Finding Your Funny: Developing a Sharper Sense of Humour in Your Senior Years

We have an 80-year-old neighbour, Dave. Dave is gifted with a sense of humour and makes the most hilarious comments. These gems are precious. Each time they come out of his mouth, I feel jealous. How I wish I had the same gift, even just a bit of it.

My husband used to say that when God sprinkled the gift of humour, He bypassed me. I accept that I have no sense of humour. I dreamt of making the most witty observations that made people laugh, but somehow, this dream remained only a dream.

I knew I had to feed this desire to dabble a bit. So, I embarked on a journey:

Me on My Journey.

1. I sought out humour in various forms. I watched comedy shows, read funny books and articles, and followed comedians and humorous content creators. I exposed myself to different forms of humour until I started to find what was funny. I no longer wondered what was funny while all the rest were dying of laughter.
2. I trained myself to look for the humorous aspects in everyday situations. I tried to change my severe outlook on life to a more playful one, such as finding the absurd and the unexpectedly funny.
3. I started laughing at my mistakes and quirks. My imperfections became a source of amusement, not embarrassment. 
4. During summers in Canada, the cottage docks became a rich environment for sharing wit and humour. Docks are always full of playful banter, telling and solving riddles, finding clever and humorous conversation connections, and sharing laughter. These activities all helped sharpen my blunt sense of humour.
5. But most importantly, I became very observant. Being observant helped me spot the comedic in everyday life, people, situations, and even mundane objects.

There is such a thing as a gift of a sense of humour. I have no such gift, so I could never be like our neighbour, Dave. But I have moved an inch from being severe to becoming relaxed and fun. I keep laughing at myself. If you can’t find fun in yourself, you can never entertain others.