When the average person thinks of work, they envision offices, desks, labor, and other things that surround workers. But they never suggest that work is a fun place to be. This must change.

Fun involves laughter and laughter is the magical gift that only humans have. We laugh when we are amused, surprised, or even embarrassed and that laughter has numerous positive benefits.

When you laugh, positive changes happen in your body. Laughter is a form of exercise. You’re exercising muscles in your face, chest, and abdomen. If you’re rolling on the floor... laughing like they do in comic strips, well, then, even your arms and legs get a workout.

It also eases your stress and releases endorphins, the body’s own natural pain killer. There is nothing wrong with laughter and it needs to find a space in the work-a-day world.

The best effect laughter can have in the workplace is when things go wrong. You can yell, swear, or blame somebody for a problem, but laughter can save the day. Mark Twain put it best when he said, “The secret source of humor is not joy, but sorrow.” When things go bad, laughter is sometimes our only defense against going mad.

I often cite the example of my mother’s funeral. When she died, the funeral director asked if there was anything special I needed. I said, “A big screen TV and a video cassette player.”

Before mom passed away, I converted the family movies she and my dad made over the years to video, so she could watch them whenever she wanted.

During mom’s wake, we played the movies nonstop in one corner of the parlor. It had an amazing effect. When visitors saw the movies, it brought lots of smiles and laughs to an otherwise somber event.

For my funeral, I plan on having a ventriloquist next to the casket so I can say my final good-byes to folks. It should be fun.