A man walks into a psychiatrist's office wearing nothing but saran wrap. The psychiatrist says, “I can clearly see your nuts.”

The Dictionary defines humor as a “comic, absurd or incongruous quality causing amusement.” Being humorous means much more to me. And no, I’m not talking about the bone.

Joking around is a big part of my life. It helps me stay relaxed and not worry too much about things. If I can laugh about something, I can deal with it. Laughter is like a medicine that makes you feel better when you are ill. When laughing your body releases endorphins which are the bodies way of making you feel better. It also helps you to stay relaxed (Laughter is the Best Medicine.) I could write an entire paper on the benefits of laughter, but I’ll keep it short.

I’ve liked to joke around ever since I was young. Things like making up words and giving them complex definitions were commonplace in my childhood. My mom would write these down in a book to read at a later time. As I began to grow up, we would read out of the book and laugh for hours on end. As I grew up, this stuck with me and has improved my life.

I tend to find many things funnier than most people. Some people are serious and don’t laugh often. I am not one of those people. I laugh all the time. It's not always jokes I’m laughing at. I enjoy a good joke but most of my laughter comes from other people. Sometimes I’ll think of something from hours ago and start laughing at it again. Some people think humor is just about jokes but it is much more than that.

Most of the things that bring me humor aren't specifically jokes. Just getting to hang out with people I like brings laughter to the table. My friends and I have all sorts of inside jokes. Most of these things aren’t real jokes though. It's laughing at them for something they did and reminding them about it later on, or bringing up embarrassing stories from our past. One important thing is being able to laugh about yourself. It's not worth getting embarrassed over little things. All of this helps to make me a happier person.

Being able to joke about anything can make life much easier. I know people who stress about everything. I can understand them, though. Juggling around school, work, sports, and being able to spend time with friends gets to be a lot. If all of this causes stress, there is a fix for that.

Laughter.
According to Milton Berle, “Laughter is the best medicine in the world.” I completely agree with him. Sometimes worrying about something won’t make it any better. Laughter helps you become more easy going.
Being humorous and being able to laugh isn’t about worrying about everything. It's about enjoying the little things in life and being appreciative. Sometimes life throws things your way that you have no control over. Sometimes you’re able to overcome these obstacles, but other times that isn’t possible. Complaining about why something happened to you won’t solve the issue. Sometimes you just have to move on and put those obstacles to the side. It’s not worth losing life over something that can’t be changed.

Telling jokes and laughing usually goes hand in hand with having a good time. Whether it's at a family gathering or just hanging out with friends, it will get things going. No good time happens without some humor involved. If people are laughing and joking around, you can’t stay angry. It's not possible. You’ll want to join in on the fun. Like Charlie Chaplin said, “A day without laughter is a day wasted.” This doesn’t mean humor is a good thing for every occasion.

Sometimes laughter and humor aren’t appropriate. At a funeral for instance people usually aren't in a good mood. Walking up to the front and cracking a joke isn’t the right time for joking around. Maybe on the rare occasion the person being buried loved to laugh and would hope for the people to be happy, but the majority of the times it would be considered rude. This is just one example where it's not appropriate. Most often though it tends to make people more happy.

Humor brings people together. It doesn’t matter if you’re black, white, or anything in between, all people laugh the same way. If I’m at a family gathering and were all sitting around with cousins I’ve never met before, there's one fast and easy way to start bonding.

Laughter.

Humor is the great equalizer bringing all sorts of people together. Even if I don’t know them, we start laughing together and start to feel close. Laughter has a way of bringing people together no matter who they are.

Making other people smile and laugh is a great feeling. Whether it's telling jokes or just laughing together, it will make you smile. Try it.