The ability to step outside yourself and get a chuckle or even a bellyaching laugh at your own expense may one of the most overlooked positive personal characteristics. I bet you know a few people who are so wound up they just cannot appreciate their own silly mistakes. That is sad because laughter, smiles and silliness will lower your stress and make you a more complete person.
What is the funniest thing you ever messed up? Could you laugh at yourself? My ex-wife and I were on a cruise in the mid nineties. The day we were to disembark, a letter and a luggage tag was left at our door. Printed on the tag was the word Amarillo, the city in Texas. We were dumbstruck because at the time we lived in Concord, New Hampshire. Why would they think we were heading back to Texas? So we marched down to the customer service desk to get this straightened out.
We get to the desk and explain the problem. The clerk looks at us for a moment and calmly points out that the tag, which happens to be yellow in color is not specific to a city. It is telling us that we put our luggage in the "yellow area". Then she points out that Amarillo is the Spanish word for yellow. My wife and I look at each other and start laughing. We look back at the clerk and she starts laughing. We thank her in between bursts of laughter and we turn around and head to a bench where we sit down and begin to laugh hysterically. Tears are rolling down my face as I look up and see the clerk pointing to us as she explains to the next people in line what happened. They start laughing too. We all enjoy this moment for a good while. I am laughing now just thinking about it. I’ll never forget how funny that moment was and how much I laughed at myself.
Can you laugh at yourself? If not, maybe you should lighten up and enjoy life. You'll live longer as you laugh your stress away.
Peace and Love
JohnnyO
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