People often ask, "Joel, isn't a sense of humor a special gift that only some people have?" I don't think so. You can cultivate a great sense of humor if you want to. It's really a matter of deciding.
The dictionary defines humor as "the ability to see the funny or amusing side of things." But I like to stretch that a bit farther and say that humor is the ability to laugh at things you can't change. That definition of the word humor was given to me by a man named Charlie Plumb. A number of years ago Charlie and I had lunch together, and he told me about some of his experiences as a United States Air Force pilot during the Vietnam War. He learned the meaning and value of humor after he was shot down over enemy territory, parachuted to the ground and was soon captured by the Viet Cong.
After six months of severe torture, he felt he couldn't take it any longer. Life seemed utterly unbearable, and Charlie prayed to die. Then, after another beating, he was trucked to a different prison and thrown into a tiger cage, where he slowly regained consciousness. As he told me, it took hours just to open his swollen eyes and focus his vision. But finally, when he could see, he noticed a circle carved in the stone wall just outside of his cage. Beneath the circle were some words. He strained to make out their meaning, and what he finally read changed his life.
There, carved into the wall of what must have seemed like the pit of hell, were these words:
Smile, you're on candid camera!
Charlie said he laughed. He laughed for hours. His despair was lifted, because where there is laughter, there is hope. Charlie realized that another American in that same tiger cage had retained his sense of humor and had laughed at a situation he couldn't change.
That one hearty laugh helped Charlie survive 2,103 days... nearly six years of captivity. He survived, just as you can survive almost any ordeal that you might have to face - with the help of humor!
Here's what you can do:
Actually begin to take notice of how many times a day you DO laugh, and how many times a day you're able to make someone else laugh. By simply becoming more aware of it, you'll automatically begin finding more things to laugh about.
Before you come to the breakfast table in the morning, pause and ask yourself, "What funny thing could I do or say this morning to make someone laugh?" Your sense of humor is a lot like a muscle-it must be exercised in order to develop. The more you USE it, the more powerful it becomes.
Before long, you'll notice that your coworkers and customers are actually conditioned to your positive humor, and will probably light up and smile as soon as they see you, before you've even said or done anything funny. They'll look forward to seeing you, because they'll know they can count on you to brighten their day!
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