Living with an ostomy can bring about many challenges, but finding and keeping a sense of humor can be a powerful way to cope with life's ups and downs. Humor can be a wonderful tool to help navigate through surgeries, personal losses, and everyday stresses. Here are some insights and advice on how humor can be a helpful companion:

1. Incorporating humor into your daily life can boost your mood, reduce stress, and help keep negative thoughts at bay.

2. Engaging with jokes, poetry, or puns, whether by reading or writing them, can provide a momentary escape from darker feelings and offer a sense of rediscovered joy.

3. While laughter is incredibly valuable, it's important to ensure that it doesn't come at the expense of others. Humor that is empathetic and kind is the most beneficial.

4. Developing a personal sense of humor can become a vital coping mechanism. As the saying goes, "If it weren’t for your sense of humor, you wouldn’t have any sense at all.