Fun Is Serious Business!

Have you noticed lately how children play? How much do they laugh? How do they have fun? Do you remember when was the last time you laughed like this?

The ability to enjoy life with enthusiasm is one of the human strengths that positive psychology studies. However, it is one of the least present qualities among adults.

Why is it important that we have fun?

When we have fun, we relax and enjoy the moment. In order to have fun, we need to feel safe, free from threats and dangers … When we do something fun, we enjoy it for its own sake, not necessarily as the means to a certain end.

The ability to play is the foundation of a sense of humor : we play with words to create funny incongruities, and we play with situations when we make jokes.

A sense of humor protects us from the effects of stress. One of the characteristics of resilient people is precisely their sense of humor.

People subjected to a high level of stress but who have a good sense of humor have less depression and anxiety than those who do not have it so developed.

What does the science say about all this?

• Erin Fluegge Woolf, a researcher at the University of Florida, has shown that people who have fun in their work get more involved and show greater creativity and work performance.
• Joseph Richman, a professor at the Albert Einstein Medical Center in New York, followed a group of elderly people with depression and at risk of suicide and found that those who recovered were those with a greater sense of humor.
• Peter Derks, a researcher at William & Mary University (USA), has observed that, before laughing at the end of a joke, a “wave” of electricity runs through the entire cerebral cortex. While the left part of the brain works on the verbal content of jokes, the right part deals with the incongruities of funny things; Our entire upper brain is involved in laughter!
• William Fry, a psychiatrist and professor at Stanford University (USA) and a pioneer in the study of humor from psychology, has shown that laughing has positive consequences on the respiratory, cardiovascular, central nervous, endocrine and immune systems.

Laughter is, on the one hand, something very basic for which we seem to be programmed; even the smallest babies smile reflexively.

Laughter and fun, on the other hand, have a very important social component: when we are accompanied, we laugh about thirty times more than when we are alone. And laughter really spreads. But we rarely laugh with strangers.

For some researchers, laughter is a kind of “social glue” that strengthens our important relationships, which, in turn, play a vital role in our well-being. In addition to the fact that, obviously, fun is a pleasant sensation that contributes to our emotional, physical and social well-being.

What can we do to laugh more?

To enjoy life, as in everything, it is important to know yourself and know:

• What do you think is fun?
• When have you been laughing at ease lately?
• Who make you laugh the most?

Once we have identified the activities and the people with whom we have the most fun, it is advisable to “program” them in our lives. It may seem cold, because many times we think that if something is not “spontaneous” it loses its value. Nothing further and more effective than:

• Call someone every day to tell them a joke or ask them to tell us another.
• Watch a comedy or comedy show with company.
• Organize a board game night with our loved ones.
• Joke around with a co-worker.
• Organize a relaxed meal with friends.
• Practice a sport with them, without much pressure to compete …

The eminent researcher in positive psychology Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi of the University of Claremont (USA), says that you have to spend as much planning as you do work time. If we don’t structure it, it is unlikely that we will see the people with whom we have a good time or that we do what we enjoy.

Doing nothing and staying, from time to time, all Sunday at home in pajamas can help us relax. But if, in addition, we do fun activities frequently, even if they require a greater effort, we are likely to feel more relaxed and satisfied.

One of the most effective ways to increase our spark and enthusiasm is, precisely, to be with fun people.

So even though we’re busy and stressed, let’s get out our phone book and call that person we know always makes us laugh.