The Benefits of a Healthy Sense of Humour?

I often have a tendency to take myself too seriously. But I have more fun, and get more motivated, when I have a healthy sense of the absurd. Whilst cycling across China, often alone and scared, I needed it real bad. One of the memories that still makes me laugh was caught on camera.

What happened:

I set up the camera to take a self-timer of me and some new friends. I pressed the button and whilst it counted down, I ran to the back of the group to pick up my bicycle and join the line. However, in my rush, I did not get a proper grasp of my handlebars and so lost control, crashing into everyone…and at that moment the shutter clicked.

It was embarrassing – but we were able to laugh and it made my day!

In the same way, can we learn to take ourselves less seriously and to laugh at things that go wrong at work more often, or do things to make it all more fun?

When I was a student door-to-door salesman in America, my sales manager encouraged me to sometimes do my entire sales pitch in a strong regional English accent (unbeknownst to my customer). It always cheered me up, and the more cheerful I was, the more likely I got a sale.

Where can you have a more healthy sense of the humour?

Maybe it’s like Mel Brooks said:

Tragedy is when I cut my finger. Comedy is when you fall into an open sewer and die.