Cultivating a Sense of Humour
Life, when seen in its totality, is neither good nor bad. It is what you make of It. A pessimist always looks at the murky side of life, manages to find some drawbacks in the happiest of situations, whereas a person who is an optimist with a keen sense of humour, manages to clinch a redeeming factor, even in the most hopeless situations.
What is humour? Leo Rosten calls humour ‘the affectionate communication of insight. It is the test of sanity. It is taking joy in the ludicrous. A person with a sense of humour adds spice and colour to a dull gathering. He lends vivacity and sheer joy to a mundane conversation. He exudes cheerfulness and brings hope in the midst of woes and problems. A well-developed sense of humour is like a pole that helps you balance your steps as you walk the tightrope of life. A keen sense of humour helps one to, look at the sunny side of things.
Humour is an inoffensive way of puncturing the vanity of those who, too full of themselves. It dispels grimness, relieves tension and alleviates stress. Very often a witty repartee or a funny remark can make a crying person laugh and help find hope in a seemingly hopeless situation. A person, with a sense of humour may manage to bring to light the follies of a-friend in a manner that does Apt annoy and yet makes the person concerned aware of his faults. He is much sought after, for he makes interesting company.
In the bygone days, there were court jesters and clowns who-often kept the king and courtiers amused, sometimes mocking at their eccentricities. In modern’ clay and age, we have cartoonists, who create amusing caricatures of eminent personalities—exciting laughter and sometimes highlighting their inadequacies, selfishness or even corruption.
Cultivating a sense of hut-tour helps one to look at one’s own ‘inadequacies; -to ‘relax and look at the warp and weave of life in an amused and objective manner.
The most trivial things and situations can stimulate humour. People’s forgetfulness, mimicry of the mannerism of your favourite person, occasional witty replies, or repartee can also trigger off laughter. Incongruous; unexpected behaviour of people excites laughter. For instance, a high-ranking officer, who at home is a henpecked husband or a formally-dressed gentleman who wears his shirt inside out may become the butt of laughter.
Humour may be either boisterous or subtle, it surely adds that extra ‘zip’ which makes life more colourful and lively. Besides everything-else, a humourist has the knack of making himself felt even in the dark. Humour and mirth help one to cope better with life for:
“If one can laugh at life one can live with it….”
