#Mywordfortoday is #Humour
This is definitely a topic I am qualified to write about because I have always believed in the power of being lighthearted, and I like to believe humour was factory fitted into me at creation.😅
I love to laugh at life, at myself, at stuck up situations and their human versions. Humour, however, is much more than just the ability to laugh or make others laugh.
Humour, in my opinion, is being emotionally intelligent. And according to Karyn Buxman a Neurohumorist, "humour is power".
Knowing how to make light of any situation, however dire, is priceless. I read via Ms Buxman about the Cuban Missile crisis, a nuclear war that was averted due to the humorous remark made by one of the Russian generals.
Dr Seuss has said that nonsense is absolutely necessary for the growth of our brain, also, science has shown that humour helps us to retain information for much longer, it aids us in in learning, understanding and comprehension.
I don't know if black people developed humour as a coping technique because it seems like blacks have this really heightened sense of humour. Perhaps it evolved as a way of coping with the problems that we had, we were held as slaves and segregated, we face racism every day our speech is disparaged so perhaps humour is our way of coping with our everyday activities.
Children learn through play, and that ought to tell you how important humour is in our lives. When I train people in leadership and personal growth, I infuse play and humour into our sessions.
The whole class is laughing and learning; and will probably remember the things we played about. This is a much better scenario than when everybody is staring at your PowerPoint presentation, whilst pretending not to doze off, even after downing cups and cups of coffee.
I bought a book for our eldest son "a Wayne in a manger" by Gervase Phinn. It's a hilarious collection of stories about the birth of Jesus Christ.
Little children from age 5 played the part of Joseph, Mary, the Angel, the innkeeper, and the wise men. Mary, age 6 was visited by the Angel and told that she would be having a boy child, she argued with Angel Gabriel, on "what if it's a girl".
Gabriel insisted it was a boy because God "knows about these things". After that was settled, the Angel said the baby had to be named Jesus, she wanted to call him Gavin because Mary doesn't like the name, Jesus 🤣🤣🤣. The Angel sulkily informed her that "if you are not naming him Jesus, you are not getting him"
When Joseph got home, Mary told him "I am having a baby - oh, and it is not yours".😭😭😭
Whenever I feel low, this book lifts my spirits because, in no time, I'm laughing so hard at the innocence of these younglings.
I have written a lot about how Proverbs were used to shape our lives in Nigeria. Some of these proverbs, while teaching wisdom was delivered in the most humorous of ways and the humorous ones, are the ones we typically remember:
"calculation is the husband of making love or having sex"- "Isi ro l'oko dido".
What do you think this means? My interpretation is in everything that we do in life we need to calculate and plan the good, the bad, and the intermediate this includes having sex apparently, 'uncalculated' sex has consequences.
I have found that humour is a very powerful motivator if properly deployed, some people may not agree because they think being funny makes work somewhat less serious or even inefficient, whereas where work is made fun, it increases productivity and fires up the brain from all that clogged up stressed induced feeling.
Although Humour is a necessity, some of us are humourless. Is there a way to learn, a way to find your personal humour style? are there resources available to help?
Humour helps us, not just to survive, but also to thrive, so in learning to be humorous, I am going to borrow from Loretta Laroche who said in order to learn become more humorous, you have to become a witness to your own behaviour and think about what you're thinking about and why? Interrogate your feelings.
She said if you think the worst and get the worst you suffer twice, but if you think the best and get the worst you only suffer once.
Borrowing further from Karen Buxman, knowledge is no longer power, it is the application of knowledge that is power, and this is true, even for humour. She said that in order for you to see the power in humour, you need to intentionally raise your awareness.
Look around you, see funny rather than be funny intentionally look for humour in places, in situations, in people.
Humour has the power to increase our resilience, reduce our tension, and relax our muscles. Humour helps us to get the brain going, when we laugh, a chemical called serotonin is released leading to us feeling much better. If you are looking to be a more humorous person, you've got to become the fun that you are seeking.
According to Professor Albert Ellis, a number of people spend their lives "catastrophizing and awfulizing", failing to realise that the energy you give is the energy you get.
We would always say "stay away from negativity and negative energy", right? But what if you are the one with the negative energy?
Some of us have allowed the cares of life to rob us of humour, but worry has never added even a cubit to anyone's stature. All it does is make you anxious and miserable.
Professor Ellis wants me to tell you to "stubbornly refuse to make yourself miserable". 🙏
My first assignment on entering a place is to lighten it up. The energy in my office changes when I enter into the office (at least three-quarters of the time), I enter with exuberance and attitude of "I cannot kill myself o".
Even the Bible in Proverbs 17 verse 22 NLT tells us that "A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit saps a person’s strength".
Humour is powerful, but if we do not apply that power, then all is lost.......As Viktor Frankel said: "Humour is another of the Souls weapon in the fight for self Preservation".
Bibireosefowora
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