Life’s One Big Joke: Laugh at Yourself to Overcome Fear and Embarassment
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“You think everything is one big joke. Can’t you take anything seriously?”
This has been spoken to yours truly on more than one occasion. And I have wondered what the answer really is. I mean, I don’t think everything is a joke, but I DO find most things to be funny…things most people find not so funny.
For example…
When I was a kid, I had an uncle who rather enjoyed berating kids. It seems I was the only one who liked him. The reason? I thought he was funny.
You see, in many ways life is one big joke. And we just need to look for ways to find the humor in it and laugh at it.
The Most Important Thing to Laugh At: Yourself
In the past, I have taken myself WAY TOO seriously. I used be become paralyzed after I made mistakes. I would berate myself for doing such a stupid thing. And the cycle beganà I think of myself doing something stupid- I do something stupid- I think I am stupid.
And the cycle repeats itself.
But that was then. Now, I am the funniest thing in the world. I can now laugh at myself. And because of that, I can see the humor in my mistakes and learn form them rather than dwell one them.
The reason I can do this is because I keep this thought in my head: If I screw up, so what?
The truth is the imagined consequences are ALWAYS worse than the actual one.
This is why I can laugh. Just last week, I said something to a female friend of mine that could have been interpreted in many ways (I’m operating in a foreign language here). For a few days, I felt really bad about it. But then, I started laughing at myself.
I thought, “Geez, Carlon, she probably thought you were an idiot.” And looking back, it is pretty funny.
The worst consequence I could have imagined from that was losing a friend (which is possible but unlikely), but the true consequence was that I was embarrassed.
And, well, if it had been someone else I would have laughed at their embarrassment. So, I might as well laugh at my own,
Life IS a Big Joke
And that’s the point of today’s blog post. When you think of life, think of it as one big joke full of moments to laugh at. The world really is a funny place, and the lead role in this comedy is YOU.
So, for today’s exercise, look back at all the embarrassing moments in your life, throw your head back, and laugh till it hurts. If you’re really brave, post one of your funny moments in the comment section. I might even post a few of mine.
Once you start laughing at yourself, there’s no limit to what you can overcome.
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Categories: Personal Development, Success Mindset
Tags: laugh_at_yourself, lifes_a_joke, personal_development
Comments: 4 Comments.
I get plenty of time to laugh at myself daily. Your post is a good reminder for us all to not take ourselves too seriously. Though I will admit…I am funnier (even to myself) when there is alcohol involved.
You could attest to that right C-Man?
Ripple On!
Steve
Three cheers. Life is one great big comedy.
life is a big joke but u have to learn to be serious sometimes.. i dont think it would be very funny to see someone getting beat up at school and you stand there laugh at it. because its ok to laugh right? i mean life is one big joke! so lets laugh at the poor kid getting beat up because it is apart of life right??
Michael,
Thanks for stopping by. The point of the post is that you should learn to laugh at YOURSELF…not others. Yes, there are times to be serious, but the problem is when we start taking OURSELVES too seriously.
That’s what it’s all about.
Carlon