How Important Is A Sense Of Humor?

Having a sense of humor is serious business. Faith in God and the ability to laugh at adversity are twin defenses that give needed perspective and detachment when misfortune plunges us into despair.

Humor and suicide. Charles Dickens wrote a little fantasy about the visit of a little man to a baron suffering from despondency. He introduced himself to the baron as the "Genius of Despair and Suicide." He immediately began to persuade the baron to kill himself.

At one point in the conversation, the baron laughed. This disturbed the "Genius." He asked the baron to sigh, not to laugh. Later on, the baron gave a hearty laugh. The spirit of suicide uttered a frightful howl and disappeared.

There’s also the story about an old man who was walking down a country road carrying a huge load of wood on his back. Feeling overwhelmed by his burden, he cast it to the ground and cried out, "I can’t take it anymore. Let the Angel of Death come and take me." At this, the Angel of Death appeared and asked, "You called?" The old man looked at him. "Yes," he said, "Would you help me get this load back on my shoulders?"

Humor and adversity. T.W. Higginson said, "There is no defense against adverse fortune which is, on the whole, as effectual as a habitual sense of humor."

Sometimes the only way to bear a burden is to laugh at them and bear them anyway. Life is hard, but without laughter, it appears intolerable. Sometimes the only choice seems to be between laughter and tears.

There was a time when my wife and I experienced an incredible series of misfortunes. We made a list. The list became so long we laughed and delighted to remember other things to add to the list. It became hilarious. Somehow laughing about it magically made the pain bearable. Those events were never as painful again.

"Laughing or crying is what a human being does when there is nothing else to do. The biggest laughs are based on the biggest disappointments and biggest fears." - Kurt Vonnegut.

Laughter tells us we belong. One of the pleasures of belonging to a support group is the unexpected laughter one finds there. As participants recount their struggles or losses, they see the humor in precisely the same way. Humor defuses their anger. Humor heals their pain.

"Conversation never sits easier than when we now and then discharge ourselves in a symphony of laughter." - Sir Richard Steele.

Laughter heals the body. Emotions have great power in the healing process. Negative emotions such as hate, fear, panic, despair and frustration incapacitate the body. Positive states of mind such as love, faith, hope, laughter, determination, purpose and perseverance mobilize the body toward health.

Behavioral immunology has confirmed the connection between immunity and the mind. Deep and sustained laughter releases endorphins that actually block pain. The statement, "If it didn’t hurt so much I could

laugh," is transformed to, "If I didn’t laugh about it, it would hurt too much."

"For health and the constant enjoyment of life, give me a keen sense of humor: it is the next best thing to an abiding faith in providence." - G.B. Cheever.

Experts have found that high levels of stress precede illness. Thus, control over stressful events is important. Good health depends on control over stressful events. Even the illusion of control helps generate antibodies to fight disease.

Even when actual events are beyond our control, the only control we have left is our attitude and reaction to those events. Laughter is a way of expressing, despite everything, that the distressing events haven’t got the best of us yet.

"With the fearful strain that is on me night and day, if I did not laugh, I should die." - Abraham Lincoln.

The situation may be hopeless but it is not serious. Humor is the evidence of our freedom - the freedom to transform our pain, anxieties and circumstances into absurdities. We choose to accept the painful reality the way it is and laugh at it instead of lamenting about how unjust it may be.

"A man isn’t poor if he can still laugh." - Raymond Hitchcock.

Laughter shows the deep realization that we are bigger than our troubles, that we are not doomed to live a sorry future after all. Tragedy becomes melodrama and melodrama becomes comedy.

"I don’t think you can truly be funny unless there has been some suffering." - Carol Burnett.

The gravity by which some people view their troubles often comes from a misplaced sense of pride or dignity. People who can laugh at themselves and their mistakes have disarmed their worst enemy - themselves. Laughing at oneself shows deep self-acceptance and takes away the threat of humiliation or embarrassment from others. By poking fun at our self-importance, we take the sting from our errors.

"If it is with outer seriousness, it must be with inner humor. If it is with outer humor, it must be with inner seriousness. Neither one alone without the other will do." - Robert Frost.

How important is a sense of humor? Charles Lindner had an answer. "A person has two legs and one sense of humor, and if you’re faced with the choice, it is better to lose a leg."