Contents
How a sense of humor brings us closer to happiness
Psychology
You may not feel like laughing every day, but finding the humorous side of things unites us as a collective by seeing ourselves reflected
El sense of humor it is a strength for the human being since generates positive changes in the body and health, because when we laugh we liberate endorphins that protect us from stress. Some studies say that it not only helps to maintain health, but also to regain it.
In addition, it is part of the personality and is associated with creativity and intelligence, although it also encourages bonding between people since joy is an emotion that leads us to share a positive state of mind, and laughter is a reaction that can be very contagious. In short, the sense of humor is based on the ability to experiment and stimulate laughter, achieving a good mood.
But those people who are not characterized by it, have a little difficult to find this function … Candela Molina, a psychologist at the Cepsim center, says that each person finds well-being in their own way, although activities such as finding a routine, the restful sleep and sports help: «What raises our spirits is not the same as those that make us laugh; psychological well-being is related to equilibrium, which would allow us to have a more stable mood ». Good humor, on the other hand, is related to joy, with a short-term positive state of mind and, as the expert says, this is achieved with dose of glee. «For example, through entertainment programs or the internet memes that they are one of the main phenomena of this generation that allows us to have that reinforcement and also unites us as a collective by seeing ourselves reflected ».
Those who do not have a sense of humor …
A sense of humor is a quality that it is detected with the naked eye, and if you stop to think about those around you, it will not be very difficult for you to identify the people who have it and those who do not. For Candela Molina, people who do not have a sense of humor are not connected with pleasant emotions, either because of their personality traits or because of a stage they are going through. He says that, in general, “they are not capable of thinking beyond what they see” and what is concrete; It is difficult for them to abstract from the logical and objective, so “it is thus difficult to give a humorous and creative sense to events.”
Furthermore, either because of it or as a consequence, this is related to more difficulty building trust and strengthen relationships, since humor “connects” us and its function is to share the fun. “They would be rather rigid people with a more irascible character,” concludes Candela Molina.
Do what you like
But, despite the fact that these people tend to be more nosy and are not always cheerful, the psychologist Cintia Tur, whose Instagram account is entirely focused on knowing how to have a sense of humor, emphasizes that it is totally “normal and natural” that a person is not in a good mood all day, every day of the year: «There are emotions that will come to us and will be more unpleasant, such as sadness or anger, but these are not bad in themselves, they are natural emotions that everyone has », he says.
Once we accept that there will be better and worse days and that this is natural, we can, of course, make small changes to try to feel better in our day to day life. Cintia Tur acknowledges that many people wait until they feel good to do activities without realizing that “doing activities will ultimately make them feel better.” That is, if we stay at home waiting to feel better to do some activity, it is very easy for us to spend the day and end without feeling motivated. However, as he says, if we carry out activities, even if at first we don’t feel like it, “we can give ourselves the opportunity to feel better (going out for a walk, going for a drink with a friend, etc.) ».
But what specific activities can I do? This question is more complex, because it depends a lot on the values of each person: “The first thing would be to see, for each one, what is important and what they like and, once this has been identified, establish specific activities that are in tune with it” , recommends the psychologist Cintia Tur.