Have you ever felt like your ability to laugh and make a joke out of something could help you avoid a lot of awkward or upsetting situations in life? Well you’re probably right, it has. I’ve always been one to laugh. Since I was young, being around my friends and being able to make them laugh and create humorous situations out of sad ones has been something I love. The gratification I feel after putting a smile on someone’s face who might be having a bad day, just because I made them laugh, is what I live for. If we don’t have a sense of humor, then what do we have? We have the ability to remain negative about all the bad in our life instead of trusting that maybe one day soon we will be able to laugh about it. Just because we have the ability to do this doesn’t mean we have to be that way. That boy who broke your heart; you can make jokes about it now because he wasn’t right for you. That day you tripped on stage during the play in front of the whole school; you can laugh about it now because you were so clumsy. All these things really seem bad initially, but if you have a sense of humor to save you, you can make good out of the bad.

My whole life I’ve been exposed to humor. My family loves to joke around because it’s just who we are. As a young adult, now in college, I realize, based on my observations in my everyday life, that people who don’t have a sense of humor really aren’t living their lives fully. I was lucky to grow up around the positive atmosphere of laughter and humility. It taught me how to be happy even when things might be sad. These people I encounter on a daily basis–who don’t let themselves laugh–really disappoint me. There have been times when I’ve seen someone down, and I’ve said something funny to cheer them up, yet they couldn’t even crack a smile. These are the people who aren’t living their lives to the fullest. They haven’t grasped that having a sense of humor will save them, and for that I am truly sorry. I only hope that the world fills up with more people who like to laugh, because that’s where happiness comes from.

A huge part of being happy is letting yourself laugh, and turning dreary situations into comical ones. The sadness you feel after something terrible happens in your life is never permanent because there is always room to laugh. There are too many people in this world who have yet to figure this out. To all of you who don’t think that to laugh is important, let me tell you: it is. Whether you’re down and need a good joke to cheer you up, or you need to make an awkward situation a bit less awkward, just use your sense of humor. Tell a joke to make someone laugh and smile. Take a bad situation and find the humor in it. Don’t let yourself be down if you have that sense of humor to save you, because it will.