As I was digging through PILES of miscellaneous statements
needing to be filed or shredded, baggies of old receipts I probably no longer
need, pictures of my children from years gone past that still need to be
framed, I found a folder which had the speeches I wrote 30+ years ago, from 8th
grade through high school and the one’s I used when I performed in
competitions. Major
flashback moment!!
When I was in 12th grade, I was a member of the
Meridian High School Forensics Team in Meridian, Idaho and I competed in Speech
competitions in Idaho, Oregon and Washington. Our speeches could be one’s that were written by someone
else, or we could write them. I
competed in several different categories such as Humorous Interpretation,
Dramatic Interpretation, Impromptu, and Original Oratory. One of the speeches I wrote in my folder, for an Original Oratory Competition back in 1984, was called “HUMOR”.
The timeliness of finding this speech was perfect, because just last week, I was having a conversation with my
children, regarding their need to have a better sense of humor towards themselves,
towards other people and with each other and why this is important for them in life. They can be so serious and take
everything so personal! Once in a
while a laugh will “sneak” out of them, or they will share a really funny joke,
but not as often as they should and I would like them to. Clearly, their over-serious behavior
and lack of laughter, are NOT traits they got from their mother. Hahaha
I think I am going to share what I wrote as a teenager years
ago, with my own teenagers today.
Maybe after they read this, their attitude towards HUMOR will improve
and the sound of laughter (verses tears) will increase in my home. We'll see....
Here is what I wrote at 17 years old (but sounds like
something I would probably write today):
What is 99% fat-free, has no cholesterol,
can’t be smoked, drunk, or eaten, yet is definitely habit forming? HUMOR!
One of the
particularly endearing things about humor is that it is related to
reality. It is also a remarkably
useful thing in the context of the whole process of communication in that it is
an aid to the expression of other emotions and to the transmission of important
messages of spiritual, political, educational or commercial nature. It is, come to think of it, an absolute
necessity in the maintenance of sanity.
In regards to
physical health, there are two conditions necessary. The first, being the ability to laugh at yourself. By laughing at oneself, one can avoid creating
the impression of being pompous or too self-important. Making jokes about oneself, and telling
humorous stories about one’s own mistakes, and accepting compliments or awards
with a smile or witty remarks as though you are surprised that anyone would
think you were outstanding, is an approach that will generate more good
feelings and respect than a solemn one.
Besides, it’s a good idea to laugh at yourself first, before anyone else
can.
The other condition, is the act of laughter itself. Everybody laughs at something. Even an adult, who appears humorless,
laughed as a child. The infant
laughed when tickled and the child laughed when engaged in play. As we mature, our senses of humor
develop as individualistically as do all our other personal characteristics,
resulting in laughter’s mental effect (breaking away the dreads and fears that
constitute the basis of so many depressions and lift one out of the hole of
despondency).
But no matter what
one’s occupation – doctor, lawyer, merchant, military, mailman, etc. – and no
matter what level one occupies in the hierarchy of life, the energy of humor
can enhance a job, it can improve communication, motivate others and help solve
difficult problems.
No wonder funny people
are among the most highly regarded in our society. Not only are they able to lift our spirits, but their
talents have socially redeeming value.
Researchers believe
that the fact that many comedians grew up in extremely deprived circumstances
and that their early lives are marked by suffering, tend to enhance them as
equalizers. For instance, Dudley
Moore was born with a clubfoot and one leg shorter than the other. Both of Carol Burnett’s parents were
alcoholics. Totie Field’s mother died of cancer when she was 5. Art Buchwald’s mother died giving birth
to him. David Steinberg’s brother
was shot down in the war. Charlie
Chaplin, as a mere child, did not know where his next meal was coming
from. Jackie Gleason’s father
deserted him when he was a young child, and he had to deal with a grieving and
disappointed mother for years. Joe
E. Brown left his family to go with the circus when he was 10 years old and
endured unending sadistic punishment from the man to whom he had been
apprenticed as an acrobat. W.C.
Fields has said that he ran away from home because he thought his father was
going to kill him. Almost
all comedians have had to overcome major traumas in order to become comedians.
The previous examples
support the fact that a sense of humor and a life style that avoids buildup of
anxiety will help protect one from the distress that emotional tension may
bring on. However, when one does
suffer from tension, there are three non-medical things one can do: 1) Try
meditative relaxation. 2) Engage
in vigorous activity, such as swimming, running or tennis. 3) Or, laugh. Strange as it may seem, of all the countless folk who have
lived before our time on the planet, no one is known in history or in legend as
having died from laughter.
Humans have tried to
understand why they laugh for as long as they have sought to understand their
own nature. Written explanations
of humor go back at least as far as the early Greeks. A sense of humor is a many splendored thing. It gives one the ability to relax, so
that one’s objectivity can help one see the inconsistencies in one’s
behavior. It resolves
problems. It can help shape an
attitude, a humorous outlook on life.
The total concept we
call a sense of humor, has many levels, from laughter elicited by the antics of
a clown, to the more abstract and complex ideas involved in a humorous
perception of life.
Laurence J. Peter, in
his book entitled “The Laughter Prescription,” lists those things that are
necessary for the development of a sense of humor. They are as follows:
1. Adopt an attitude of playfulness.
2. Think funny.
3. Laugh at the
incongruities in situations involving yourself and others.
4. Only laugh with
others for what they do rather than for what they are.
5. Laugh at yourself.
6. Take yourself
lightly.
7. Make others laugh.
8. Realize that a
sense of humor delivers greater rewards than merely being entertaining.
Humor is a miracle
drug with no bad side effects.
Laughter can stimulate the cardiovascular system, it can produce deep
muscle relaxation, which promotes healing, and it can help control pain. But a sense of humor is more that just
laughter.
One must be able to
step back from a situation and view it with a degree of detachment. Separating yourself from an annoying
incident is the constructive way of breaking the vicious cycle that causes
depression. As we experience
annoyances or disappointments, our mirthfulness decreases. This may cause us biochemically to
become depressed, and may in turn, further dampen our sense of humor, so that
we laugh less and continue the downward spiraling pattern of depression. Psychologically, the ability to see humor in a situation is as important as the laughter itself. An individual with a good sense of humor is one who can take a comic view of life’s trials and tribulations, and not take it all so seriously, all of the time.
Considering the fact
that we are living in an age where being healthy is in, it would behoove us all
to adopt a 99% fat-free, no cholesterol, non-smoking, non-drinking, diet of Humor. Try it. You’ll like it!
