George Gilbert’s Motivational Humor

Norman Cousins said, “Laughter is a powerful way to tap positive emotions.” 

Even though the country is going through a major recession it is important to stay positive. Finding humor and incorporating laughter in our lives can at least help ease the stress of all the negativity we are constantly being surrounded by today. While the news is always negative it seems with the recession it is even more so; the majority of commercials on television today are about bankruptcy, short-sales, and re-modification.

So what do you do? Turning off the TV for a few days is one solution. And if you think you are missing something important in the news you can turn the TV back on and I guarantee you the majority of the news will be the same thing you were listening to before you turned off the television. Negative talk about the recession, crime and scandals, the only thing different is the dates and the names will be different but the news will be basically the same.  Take the time you were spending watching Television to find fun and more positive things to do. Spend time with friends who make you laugh. Start playing games again, especially games where you interact with friends. Find games that your friends like that evoke laughter, like Pictionary. A game that is competitive but more than competitive it can be funny at the same time. We don’t have to spend a lot of money to have fun. I enjoy playing the Wii with friends, but if you can’t afford it then play an old-fashioned bored game you can have just as much fun. If you have to watch television, limit yourself from watching too much news and turn to a sit-com or something on the comedy channel. A show that will make you laugh and help ease the tension of tough times.

Surround yourself with positive funny people. Do you hang around people who bring you down? Are they always negative? Always complaining? Why are you spending so much time with them, because they are friends? Friends should not always bring you down. If so, are they really friends?  If you are the one who has to supply all the positive emotions in the relationship you are getting cheated from your happiness.  Putting all the positive energy in the relationship and not receiving any can be draining and bring you down. I’m not saying drop them completely from your life, but try and limit your time with negative people. Start enjoying the company of people that bring humor and laughter and other positive emotions into the relationship.

Do something different. Get out of the house and take an improv class. Want to put more laughter in your life find an improve class, not only will it teach you to be funny but it will help you find the funny in you. You will be surrounded by people who will make you laugh. If you are shy and suffer from stage fright go to your local comedy club and let them supply the humor. Just don’t sit at home and dwell on the recession.

Much of the stress we are experiencing is about things we have no control over, but there are many things we can do to reduce that stress. Putting Laughter in our life will help us tap into positive emotions and help up get through tough times.
 

I have an old friend who complains all the time. He complains about his coworkers. He acts as if he is the only one who knows what he is doing, everyone else is incompetent. Then he will wonder why no one likes him, why he is the one that gets passed over for promotion, why he gets fired and goes from one job to another.

Maybe he does know more that the others but he doesn’t create a positive work environment by always pointing out others’ mistakes, he doesn’t create a team atmosphere by belittling them in front of other associates. Not only will they not want to work with you but they aren’t going to trust you. You are only setting yourself up for failure.

If you want to be a success at work help others by mentoring them, point out their successes not their failures and stop complaining about everything. Instead of coming to work with a frown turn it around and smile. No one wants to work with someone who complains about everything. People want to be around upbeat positive people. People that make them laugh, smile, and feel good about themselves.

If you have to point out others’ mistakes all the time to make yourself look good, then you are only hurting yourself by alienating your coworkers and when you make a mistake they will be the first to point it out. Rather than embarrassing you co-workers, help them and find humor, but not derogatory humor, in their mistake.

We are told that teasing is wrong, but in reality everyone teases someone. Whether it’s a little adlib joke or a sophisticated practical joke everyone teases. Much of humor today is based on some form of tease. Making fun of someone or joking about somebody is a form of teasing. It is part of human nature. In school, boys will tease girls and girls will tease boys many times it is because one likes the other. Even though it is hurtful this is their way of trying to communicate to the one they like. When someone gets thrown out in a baseball game or fumbles the ball in a football game their teammates will tease the player. Have you ever reminded a friend of something embarrassing that they did? That is a form of teasing. I don’t know anyone who can honestly say they haven’t teased someone. It may be politically incorrect to say teasing is alright, but in reality we all do it.