Laugh At Yourself

People in this forum sometimes forget to have a little laughter in their lives. They forget that there is sometimes nothing better than a good joke.

And sometimes there's nothing better than when the joke is on you.

Kidding around with each other isn't something that you want t do all the time but, every once in a while, it just a good natured way of putting egos aside me opening up the pathways of learning free from judgement..

There are some people I don’t kid. I don’t joke with these people. I don’t feel I have permission to do so.

They are deeply serious people, especially about themselves. They might tell a joke or tease someone but they don't like it, and can get quite nasty if you do it to them.

I'm not like that. I laugh at myself all the time. I do stupid things.

Sometimes I have a great argument in my head,but when it comes out, in words or on paper, I find myself wondering what the hell I was thinking.

And what do I do then?

I laugh. I laugh and call myself an idiot. Then I move on.

My friends tease me all the time . They do so lovingly and in good nature. It puts my massive ego in check and we often joke about it for the rest of the day.

I can tell you numerous stories about the occasions I have misplaced my keys. I have lost my keys at the meat counter at the grocery store. I once lost them in the dean’s office in graduate school.

At a Cajun's Fried chicken, I once put them on a tray along with my trash from breakfast and then accidentally tossed them into the trash can. I then had to put my arm into the trash can and fish them out.

It is just part of being human. We do dumb things at times.

Yet, there are people I don’t feel comfortable with. I don’t tease them or use very much humor with them. I don’t feel at ease around them. They take themselves far too seriously for that. I recall once watching a friend trying to playfully tease such a person. The guy got tense and then shot back some sort of nasty barb. It was an awkward moment.

But you can't take yourself that seriously.

I'm an author and a teacher. I’ve taught classes before when I have said something incorrect. Maybe I got a Bible reference wrong. Maybe I passed out class notes and made an error in the notes. Perhaps someone caught the error and brought it to my attention.

When this happens I try to smile and say something like: “Thanks for this. I need all the help I can get.”

Why? Because I'm not God. And as far as I'm aware, He's the only one who's perfect.

So whether its someone being a joker, or just you being a stupid human, laugh at yourself. Laugh like there's no tomorrow.