When All Else Fails, Keep a Sense of Humor
Laugh. Go ahead. This sign has sharp edges....
Ah, another day in paradise. A lot of the time, I am very lucky that it comes fairly naturally to me to stay focused in remembering the many, many things that I have to feel grateful about. Unlike many of my clients and friends I don’t struggle daily with major, major anxiety. Every day, for example, I wake up knowing that I am privileged in so many ways: such as, to have a wonderful life partner/ husband, my health is pretty good after a brush with cancer and some very annoying and repeated health challenges, there’s a roof over my head, food to eat, safe water to drink, and many more things that many people on this planet don’t have.
Then occasionally I make the mistake of looking at the news and getting dangerously close to thinking negatively. Even though I have worked as a journalist, in various permutations, and been involved with journalists personally and professionally, it’s astonishingly easy to think when reading or watching the news that what they’re telling me is the truth.
Sorry but in the USA, it’s not even close to the truth…….what passes for actual news reporting in this country is in reality whatever message multinational corporations and politicians want the populace to have. It has very little to do with “the truth” with a capital T. It occurs to me that there probably were some wise souls, for example, as the Titanic was going down, who had the presence of mind and spirit to help the people around them to see the humor and maybe even smile or laugh in the midst of utter tragedy, because all concerned knew that there wasn’t a great many other options available.
One of the most deeply moving things and profound things that I ever read anywhere (though I must say it was not particularly funny) was by Viktor Frankl in his powerful 1940′s book “Man’s Search For Meaning.” Frankl was a concentration camp survivor who realized while still in the camp that the Nazis could take literally everything else away from him…but they could not take away his choice of the attitude and mindset that he wished to carry with him.
I remember very clearly thinking, as a young adult, that if this man could make such powerful and positive choices, then that no matter what happened to me, that I could attempt do so as well. Frankl kept his sense of humor, brought comfort and joy to his fellow man, even in the face of complete monstrosity.
So, it seems to me, that even when we cannot muster the brilliant example of Frankl and others like him (the current Dalai Lama comes to mind as another example…) we can at least remember to laugh and see the humor in the situation.
If you’re struggling with things in your life that make laughter feel or seem impossible, I highly recommend the tips to enhance your sense of humor here:Â laugh and also the books “Man’s Search For Meaning” and “You Can’t Afford the Luxury of A Negative Thought.”
Frankl was 100% correct. Life and other travesties can take absolutely everything else from us, except our choice of attitude. Choose to see the humor. It’s always, always there. If you can’t see it, ask around. find someone or something to make you laugh. Young children and older folks are particularly good at helping us see humor.
Because the fact of the matter really is: if we collectively and individually lose our ability to see humor because of the economic meltdown or anything else, then we are collectively and individually sunk.
Life is short. Fit in laughter.
February 16, 2009
Tags: anxiety, gratitude, health, humor, Resources Posted in: Sane, Tips
2 Responses
I get a little tired of people making these don’t worry be happy posts. It’s easy for you to say. I’m working three jobs and worried about my family and my daughters.
Hi ironic, thank you for stopping by. You must be so tired. I hope that you find a way to get some help and some rest. You deserve it! Nobody can work three jobs and feel all right or feel sane. You are not all alone. Don’t try to do it all on your own. All the best, Ms. Sanity
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