Can you believe that April starts in a few days? While we’re all familiar with April Fool’s Day, did you know that the entire month has a national dedication to humor? How fitting that the first day of the month is all about humor too! We know our kids love to laugh, and hopefully we share that love of laughter. Thankfully, having a sense of humor is really good for all of us. So it’s totally worth it to view the world through a lens of humor.
As we start, let’s look at the sign for laugh. Hopefully we will need this one this month.
What do we mean when we say to view the world through a lens of humor? It means to find the humor in tough situations, to take the opportunity to laugh instead of sinking into difficulty. Let’s embrace chances to laugh with our kids or to do things that increase our own laughter and joy. We can let humor lead our perspectives instead of letting cynicism or stress lead us.
Benefits of viewing the world through a lens of humor
Health
It’s easy to associate laughter with stress relief, which is, of course, good for us. But according to the Mayo Clinic, laughing actually brings changes to our physical bodies. It can stimulate organ functions, and it can run us through a cycle of stress response, leaving us with a feeling of relaxation. It can soothe tension by increasing our circulation and relaxing our muscles.
And get this: by laughing and seeing the world through a lens of humor, we can improve the function of our immune systems over time. Laughter can even work to relieve pain.
It’s physically healthy to view the world through a lens of humor.
Stress relief
Our lives can be hard, and the world can feel heavy and dark. When we view the world through a lens of humor, we aren’t minimizing the difficult situations. But we are choosing to stay OK though them. And that can be life-changing.
Adulthood seems to be a walk toward cynicism for a lot of people. So choosing humor over stress keeps us off of that cynicism path. Laughing in the midst of pain or hardship keeps us from sinking in the pain or hardship. It relieves stress and relaxes us, helping us to process difficulties with a much more positive perspective.
It’s contagious
When we view the world through a lens of humor, we inspire and encourage the people around us. Laughter is contagious – we have all seen this in action. When a friend laughs about something, we just can’t help ourselves, and we start laughing too.
So when we choose humor in the middle of hard situations, we teach our kids to do the same. Again, we are not talking about minimizing the seriousness of difficult situations. We’re talking about finding a way to stay positive and not let them overtake us. Laughter can be inappropriate at times, but most of the time, it’s a relief. Let’s bring the relief.
We love humor at My Signing Time. Have you seen our Silly Pizza Song? It’s the most hilarious way to learn a bunch of everyday signs. We hope our humor can be contagious to you and your kids while we also hope to provide you with great educational resources. Humor is important, so let’s view the world through a lens of humor.
And while we’re on the topic of humor and April, check out this post about April Fool’s Ideas.