If you see humor as an optional form of entertainment (娱乐), you’re missing some of its biggest benefits: Humor makes average-looking people look cute. Humor helps uninteresting people seem entertaining too. Studies show that a good sense of humor even makes you seem smarter.

Humor also transports your mind away from your daily troubles. Humor lets you better understand life and sometimes helps you laugh at even the worst of your problems.

In my experience, most people think they have a sense of humor, and to some degree that’s true. But not all senses of humor are created equal. So I thought it would be useful to include some humor tips for everyday life.

You don’t have to be the joke teller in the group in order to show your sense of humor. You can be the one who directs the conversation to fun topics that are ripe for others to add humor.

When it comes to in-person humor, effort counts a lot. When people see you trying to be funny, it frees them to try it themselves. For in-person humor, quality isn’t as important as you might think. Your attitude and effort count a lot.

Some people believe that humorous complaints (抱怨) about the little problems of life make humor, and sometimes that is the case. The problem comes when you start doing too much complaint-based humor. One funny observation about problem in your life can be funny, but five is just complaining, no matter how smart you think you are.

Self-deprecating humor (自嘲式) is usually the safest type, but here again you don’t want to overshoot the target. One self-deprecating comment is a generous and even confident form of humor. But if you do it too often, you can transform in the eyes of others from a confident joker to a Chihuahua dog.

【推荐2】How to Make Good Conversation

“Conversation is the most sociable of all human activities.” I totally agree with this point. Conversation is the main part of everyone’s daily life.     1     What’s more, good conversation is the most interesting part for us. In my view, you should pay attention to the following three issues to make good conversation.

To start good conversation, we'd better prepare some questions.     2     We can ask some questions to show our politeness and care for others. Like, do you have a good sleep last night? Or what do you do in your spare time? Think twice before you throw a question to others.

    3     We should pay attention to what others said and think in their shoes. Allow the others to do most of the talking. Be patient and hold interest for their comments and make some noise to show you are listening carefully.     4     In this way you will get the credit for being a good conversationalist as well as a good listener and it will help you to make friends with others.

We always said eyes are the windows to the soul. Appropriate eye contact is like a great element of the main dish which makes it more delicious.     5     It will help us to improve mutual (相互的) understanding. Do not hesitate to look into them. But don't stare at them and don't look at them for too long a time. It would make others feel uneasy and unwilling to go on talking.

【推荐3】Finding a new and fun hobby can make you a happier person. Hobbies can be a great way to relieve stress and bring more joy into your life. Specifically when you find a new hobby. Hobbies are for everyone at any age. When you get older, you should not have fewer hobbies.    1    You might be looking for a new hobby, but you’re not sure what. A new hobby requires finding new interests, which means experimenting to find those interests.

Try new things. To find a new hobby, it will require trying new things. New hobbies won’t usually just find you. Don’t put things off. You might think to yourself, “I don’t like that.” If you’ve never done it, or given it a chance, how can you know?    2    

Learn new things. You’re never too young or old to learn more in life. If you take the time to learn new things, you’ll develop new interests. Let your curiosity run wild, and develop more knowledge over the things you don’t know or are familiar with.    3    Reading the same sports newspaper everyday doesn’t count as a new and fun hobby.

Collect things.    4    Start collecting them. Maybe you have an interest in coins, or specific jewelry. Think about certain interests that pertain to what you can collect. If you’re a sports fan, then collect sport cards, or jersey’s. Simple hobbies aren't always a bad thing. You can collect just about anything.

    5    . Everyone has a creative side. Some people find different ways of expressing that side to them. It can be writing, drawing, painting, playing a music instrument, photography, dancing, or singing. These can be fun and relaxing hobbies to have that be a positive way of expressing your emotions.

【推荐3】While scientists have many ideas, they are not certain why humans yawn(打哈欠). Still, there is one thing experts know—yawns seem to be contagious(传染)!

Have you ever caught a yawn from someone else? Most people have. In fact, a person is six times more likely to yawn after seeing someone else do so. Experts have done many studies into why yawns seem to pass from person to person. As a result, they have a few theories(理论) for the reason behind it.

One possible explanation has something to do with social mirroring, which is caused by mirror neurons(镜像神经元) in the brain. These mirror neurons help the brain notice useful behavior of others and then copy it. When one person sees another yawn, his mirror neurons observe the action and consider it to be beneficial. That may cause him to yawn, too.

Another popular theory is that yawns are contagious because of social relationships. Being social creatures, humans form friendships, families and live together in groups. That’s why many people mirror others, such as smiling when another person smiles. Yawning may be just another example of this. In fact, research has shown that one is most likely to catch yawns from another person if the two share a social relationship.

The answer could even be that yawns aren’t truly contagious at all. Instead, people yawn together simply because they’re in the same environment. Experts say many things may cause yawning, including temperature and time of day. Whatever the explanation is, experts do know that contagious yawns aren’t limited to humans. One study found that lions in South Africa also caught each other’s yawns.