The Importance Of Humor In The Toughest Of Times

The Importance Of Humor In The Toughest Of Times

It's one thing to maintain a sense of humor on a day-to-day basis, and another to be able laugh through a life-threatening diagnosis.

Yet Alex Niles has managed to do just that as he battles stage IV gastric cancer. He joined HuffPost Live host Nancy Redd today to discuss how using his sense of humor helped him through his diagnosis as well as find the energy to create CureWare, a clothing line designed for other patients going through chemotherapy.

"It's important to find humor in the little things -- it's important to find humor in normalcy," said Niles. "It just takes your mind off the seriousness of what's going on. These little distractions I've found to be helpful, not only for me but also family and friends and caretakers that are involved. It's important to set the mood, and if you can find that humor and a smile and laugh here and there, it goes a long long way."

His focus on the positive parts of his life not only affected his ability to face his illness, but also his ability to help others with a similar struggle.

"I just wanted to put one foot in front of the other, stay as positive as possible, try and keep as normal as possible as well, and control what I could," he said. "There's been so many things that have been going on, overwhelmingly positive though, including CureWear, which I'm extremely proud of... I'm just proud to give back and hopefully positively affect others in a good way."

To hear more about Niles' use of humor through his illness, watch the full HuffPost Live clip in the video above.

Before You Go

Portraits Of Laughter

Close

HuffPost Shopping’s Best Finds

MORE IN LIFE