As I grow older, I find that I take humor to the extreme. You might say I take seriously the concept of NOT taking things too seriously. Some of my friends and family have referred to my humor as “outrageous,” “crazy,” “offbeat” or “weird,” and those are the kinder comments. But for me, life works best and is most enjoyable — no matter what is going on — if I can find humor in everything… and I do mean everything.
One of my favorite forms of humor is irreverence. It’s a sort of inner grin that makes me chuckle (perhaps a bit cynically) about things in life that I otherwise might take too seriously.
It’s time for that inner grin, as far as I’m concerned, when I encounter people whose lives are completely planned. You know who these people are. You’re trying to decide how you’re going to manage your next 10 minutes, while they’ve got their entire year planned, right down to the second.
They tell you, quite blithely, what they’ll be doing six months from now — and they’re serious about it! They really think they can plan that far ahead. “On Oct. 12 of next year we’ll pick up our brand-new Lexus and drive — in 6.2 hours precisely — to Cape Cod. We’ll arrive at 6:22 p.m., pull into the La-Di-Da Seafood Restaurant, and order dinner.” And then, they add the kicker: “I will have the scrod, while Mildred will order filet mignon…”
It makes me crazy! I simply can’t deal with this mentality, especially since my own life has been anything but predictable. I want to scream, “Get real! No one knows what they’ll be doing at 6:22 p.m. on Oct. 12, and it’s probably better that way!” Luckily, at such times I employ my irreverent inner grin, which usually forestalls that scream.
It’s also important to be able to laugh at oneself. For example: What do you do when orange cones suddenly rear their ugly heads, bringing all traffic to a standstill? You’re going to be late for a dental appointment — and you know darn well you’ll be charged for it if you’re a no-show. Frantically, you search for your car’s phone charger to revive your dead phone — to no avail. So you can’t even call to say you’ll be late.
I have heard that there are people who can remain calm at such times. They turn on some soothing music, dust off the dashboard, etc. I truly envy people who are able to deal maturely with this situation. Unfortunately, I am not one of them.
What I usually do is… swear and throw a fit. Embarrassing but true. I try to be good, I really do. But before you know it, I’m acting like Donald Duck. Squawk, squawk, squawk! I’m sure this is quite entertaining to the people around me. Gives them something to focus on while they’re cleaning out their cup holders.
But after acting like an idiot, I get a mental picture of myself and then I just have to laugh. I wish I could laugh first, and ix-nay the fit throwing. But I know I will do it again, next time I’m stuck in traffic, even though I will end up feeling like a fool (again). So I laugh!
Many years ago, I had been yearning to go to the beach. But the budget wasn’t cooperating, and I hadn’t planned ahead, so it didn’t seem possible that I could go. One day, however, an acquaintance asked — out of the blue — if I’d like to use her beach house.
Wow! The ocean. A beachfront house. For free! How would most people react to such a generous invitation? Probably start packing, right? But not me! I needed to think about it. In fact, I talked it over with God the next morning. (This example will illustrate not only my need to laugh at myself, but also the fact that the Deity must have a sense of humor, to be able to deal with people like me.) So I said to God: “What should I do, Dear One?”
Suddenly, into my mind came a vision of an Old Testament-looking God, with a long white beard, smacking himself in the forehead in frustration, saying, “What am I going to do with you, Kathy? You want to go to the beach, and I give you the beach — for FREE, no less! And you ask what you should do?”
So, after having a belly laugh at my own expense, and offering a heartfelt apology to the creator, I gratefully accepted the offer and went off to the beach.
The point is, laugh whenever you can. And you almost always can. Whatever happens in life, try to see the lighter side. It’s good for your blood pressure.
Kathy Baker is a writer and speaker, a messenger of encouragement who loves to touch hearts and tickle souls with her work. She is the author of “Leaving Adversity Plaza,” and “A Tale of Three Choices: His, Hers, Mine.” She loves hearing from her readers and can be reached at [email protected].