Gerry Hopman

Gerry is a motivational speaker, a humorist, and the author of The Power of Humor and Kids say the Doggonest Things.

If today were my last day on Earth and I could share 500 words of brilliance with the world, here are the important things I'd want to pass along to others...

The Rise and Decline of Humor and Laughter

Humor and laughter have been a part of the human culture for as long as we can go back in history.

The benefits of humor are even referenced in the bible and the Book of Proverbs 17:22, where it states, "a cheerful heart does good like medicine, but a broken spirit makes you sick."

Humans are the only living species that can laugh and generate humor. There are some animal lovers who claim they have seen their pets smile, however, actual laughter and the ability to create and enjoy humor are only evident in human beings.

During the course of the ages, humor and laughter have been recognized for bringing joy and happiness, as therapy to speed recovery from surgery, as therapy and counseling of depressed people, as a cure for melancholy, a release for excess stress and tension, treatment of the sick, and the regaining of emotional equilibrium.

In the 1950's, people laughed on average eighteen times a day. Today, we laugh no more than four to six times a day. A study by the International Congress of Humor confirmed that laughter is down worldwide by 66%.

Even smiling has slipped during this time frame. 64% of people smile less than 20 times a day at home, and 72% smile less than 20 times a day at work.

We are living in a different world today. A recent study showed that people spend 34% of their time by themselves. Time spent with friends and family has dropped to 58%.

We are socializing less, because we have neither the time nor the inclination to do so. We are more stressed with work and personal responsibilities. We can now entertain ourselves in our own homes at the press of a button, with televisions, stereos, I-pods, computers, Internet, and electronic games.

Some of us get some humor in the form of jokes from the Internet. Although we probably get a good chuckle from these jokes, it has been proven that real humor and laughter comes from interaction with others.

Studies show that we laugh 6 times more in the presence of another person and 30 times more in the presence of a group of people. The decline in socializing therefore has eroded the humor and laughter factor dramatically.

So what can we do to increase our humor and laughter capacity? I'd like to share some of my thoughts with you on this:

-Give yourself permission to be silly. When things get too serious, sometimes nonsense makes the best sense.
-Avoid negative people. Avoid negative situations and negative self-talk. Surround yourself with positive, upbeat people.
-Don't be afraid to release the child or the clown from within you once in awhile.
-If you think, or you say to yourself, "someday I am going to laugh about this," don't wait, do it now.
-Don't restrict your reading, listening, or viewing to 'bad news' only. Opt for comedy TV shows, fun videos, CDs, and audios to relax with.
-Watch and listen to children and take a cue from them. They are the greatest source of spontaneous humor and laughter.
-Use humor and laughter for stress release and relaxation.
-When depressed, or in a "down mood," call a humor buddy.
-Collect humor material - create your own humor resource library.
-Review pictures that you took from fun events, and relive those fun times.
-Schedule 'fun' into your day-planner, or on your calendar. Nobody will do it for you, and if you don't, it won't happen.
-Collect and keep fun items around you - toys, cartoons, pictures, posters, etc.
-Take your job and your responsibilities seriously, but learn to take yourself lightly.