Sense of humor: instructions for use
Those who have a good sense of humor have an easy life. Such individuals easily make friends and win people over, representatives of the opposite sex are charmed by them, and clients themselves seek to meet them and buy everything they sell. People with a sense of humor are never sad, they never deal with troubles and illnesses. And we, mere mortals, watch their successes and rejoice, grinding our teeth in frustration…
Of course, this is a joke. But only in part. After all, a good sense of humor really helps to win people over and succeed in a variety of fields: in love, career, friendship and business. It also helps in difficult life situations, when everything does not go according to plan. This is exactly what the guideline VI (SENSE OF HUMOR) of the philosopher Aristippus of Cyrene says. Let’s look at it in more detail.
Cheerful and vivacious people are adored by everyone. It is easy to communicate with them and build relationships, and “rough edges” are smoothed by their jokes and a positive outlook on the world.
Yet the ancient Greek thinker urged to consider the sense of humor in a more profound way. In particular, he divided it into two directions — external and internal. And each of them can play a role in your life.
External manifestation and your relationship
The ability to joke and amuse people, to give them joy and to turn awkward moments into a comical situation — that’s a great gift that the ancient Greek thinker called part of a sense of humor directed to the outside world. With the right approach, it can bring you:
- success in career and business. People will be happy to communicate with you, so clients will return, colleagues will respect you and management will promote you.
- stability in the family. The ability to ease the tension and prevent conflict helps to live happily ever after in marriage.
- friendship and abundance of connections. People with a good sense of humor have contacts on their phones for all occasions — someone will always come to their rescue.
At the same time, while developing the ability to joke and give positive emotions to others, one should not forget about some other guidelines of Aristippus:
- IV — politeness. The sense of humor should be aimed at the circumstances, not the person. Few people like to listen to taunts and sarcastic remarks about them. Never ridicule a person’s personality and shortcomings, even in his/her absence.
- I — breadth of knowledge. A sense of humor develops simultaneously with observation and replenishment of knowledge. Without it, the sense of humor becomes flat and capable of producing the opposite effect, namely the off-putting effect, causing hostility.
Internal manifestation and your resilience
The ability to find the funny side of things even in difficult situations is a skill directed “deep” into the personality. Self-irony plays an important role in emotional and psychological life. It helps not to take yourself too seriously, be more open and confident. The Aristippus’ Code mentions it as an important characteristic for success, and there’s a number of reasons for that:
- “internal” sense of humor helps to find the strength to correct mistakes and not become discouraged by failures;
- it also becomes the cause of repeated attempts and perseverance, helps to maintain a good mood and remain persistent in achieving one’s goals;
- a sense of humor towards oneself, namely self-irony, helps not to take oneself too seriously and not to take everything personally, which often leads to resentment and bad mood.
As you can see, ancient wisdom has not lost its relevance in our time. On the contrary, the study of ancient wisdom helps to find the right path to success in any endeavor: in business, friendship and love. Study the Aristippus’ Code and find your own way to well-being!
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