How to Laugh at Yourself

Let’s get one thing straight right off the top. You are, I’m sorry to say, a ridiculous human being.

Your body makes rude noises. You get terrible, awful songs stuck in your head for days on end. You tell the same stories over and over. You think of the perfect comeback, an hour too late. You’ve zoned out in meetings, then baffled the room with a complete non-sequitur when asked your opinion. You’ve left bizarrely bungled voicemails. You’ve bounced down the stairs on your ass, tripped on your own feet, slipped, slid and flailed about. As a teenager, you said and did things that make you cringe to this day. And my god, have you ever put your foot in your mouth. Too many times to count.

You’re a complete catastrophe.

And that’s hilarious.

So my friend, if you’re harbouring feelings of shame and trauma over your silly, silly self, let me tell you that it’s time to get over it. You are one of billions of heartbeats on a blue ball orbiting a midsized star on a minor spiral arm of a run of the mill galaxy, which by the way, is just one of 2 trillion.

You're not that big a deal. So you’ve just gotta laugh.

Laughing at yourself is at its core, an act of self-love comprised of compassion and acceptance. It’s beautiful. It’s healthy. And it will make you better at everything you do.

Because what’s the alternative?

Self-absorption. Self-pity. Self-loathing.

No thanks.

So, on those days when you’ve said or done something stupid and you’re beating yourself up and it seems like you can’t breathe, take a step back. Appreciate the ridiculousness of it all. You’re a mess. I’m a mess. We all are. But if you can find a way to laugh, before you know it, you’ll be breathing again.

P.S. Sign-up for my weekly newsletter (green box at top right of your screen on desktop, or under this post on mobile) so you'll never miss a post. I promise I'm not a spammy nightmare. One per week, and that's it.