Every man in his humour

LAUGHTER, THE best medicine', a phrase though as clichid as it can get, still manages to get many a wise head nodding in acquiescence. A panacea for most ills, humour and laughter have proven to be therapeutic at most times and more so while dealing with stress at work and home.

However, developing a sense of humour is no laughing matter! Spontaneous laughter is an art. The ability to laugh at oneself and have a sense of humour is a key to balanced living. As a leading psychiatrist, Warren Poland has written: Humour...reflects a regard for oneself and one's limits despite pain. With such humour there is an acceptance for what one is..."

Mature and emotionally healthy individuals laugh frequently and enjoy it. However, while trying to keep pace with a hectic and stressful life we seem to be thirsting for laughter and a sense of humour to pep up our lives. More and more people are unable to enjoy simple, humorous pleasures. Humourlessness, in some cases, is even beyond repair. The real quality of life is dependent on the capacity for humour, the ability to laugh at oneself and at one's place in the world.

Humour in uniform

We all need to laugh from time to time. A generous sprinkling of humour at the workplace keeps up one's spirit and adds immensely to the general bonhomie and work productivity. Finding humour in a situation and laughing freely with others can be a powerful antidote to work related stress. It can help us look at our problems with a different perspective coupled with a sense of detachment. Our sense of humour gives us the ability to find delight, experience joy, and to release tension. This can be an effective self-care tool too. Humour is about being honest and open, it can be truly uplifting and can help one deal with fears and prejudices.

A sense of humour allows us to perceive and appreciate the oddities that life often presents us with. Laughter can provide a cathartic release and most of the petty differences and misunderstandings can often be laughed away. Humour is the pleasantest way of telling someone the truth. Telling subordinates or colleagues that their work is not up to mark or reprimanding them need not be fraught with venom and bile. A joke a day can keep many a temper on hold!

Try to find out if you take yourself and your work too seriously. Ask yourself when the last time was when you had a good laugh at work. When stress and problems at work threaten to overwhelm you there is no better antidote than to share a few laughs. Take a break, get away with your friend/s to the coffee table and relax. Foul moods become a thing of the past if one is able to infuse humour into even the most mundane action.

Self-deprecation sometimes not only works wonders for lightening the atmosphere, it also helps you put things into perspective. Comments and quips about oneself hurts no one and amuses everybody-if you laugh at yourself enough, you will be seen as a person who views life with clarity and perspicaciousness, and not a little wisdom. Another successful method of generating humour in an otherwise tense situation is to misquote creatively.

We have an unwritten rule in our team-twice a day when we take a coffee break, we make it a point to spend few minutes in relating any old or new humourous incidents about our workplaces or homes. It could be about home or office (often with the boss herself !). The idea is to just share a few laughs together and let the stress dissipate. Try it, it works!

Humour is a universal language and a pretty contagious emotion too! It breaks down barriers and brings other people in. Laughter therapy has been used in therapeutic programs. We have laughing clubs which encourage the emotion and well, we had the World Laughter Day last Sunday!

PADMA RAMESH

padma.hyd@careercommunity.co.in