How to Laugh at Yourself

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By 01Grandy
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In order to be able to play nice with others, you must learn to laugh at yourself.

Let's take the gentleman that issued me this ticket for example. I'm quite certain he was a fine upstanding gentleman, working diligently as the nighttime security guard at the casino. I'm sure that he had 1,001 other places he would rather be than working on Thanksgiving night.

But let's face it, when you have an anatomical equivalent of a boob part for a name, I am left to ponder whether such classic comedy is lost on you completely.

There might be hope for you yet, if you can follow these relatively simple steps.

Who's ready to try it???

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

A sense of humor

Step 1

*Lighten Up!* If you have ever been nicknamed "Eeyore" or "Chicken Little", I'm guessing your friends aren't quite sure how to tell you that although they love you, they don't want you bringing them down. Self deprecating talk can be such a downer in any crowd and it gets tiring to try and lift your spirits up. It's like trying to lift an elephant with a toothpick. Sure, it would be a cool trick in the end but it's still an impossible task.

Remember this acronym: QTIP! Quit Taking It Personally!
Step 2

*Start Small* If you have somehow gotten caught up in the hectic day to day, and lost sight of the lighter things in life. Then you are taking everything too seriously. Start out small in finding the humor in things.

Take an hour of a day, any day, and sit at a park, the mall, or even the library. Sit, wait, and watch. The humor will come to you as you watch people mindlessly walking by, bumping into poles, or tripping over themselves. You might even get lucky that day and witness a guy trying to pick up on a lovely lady, using the worst lines in the book.

People watching is definitely a good way to break the ice and find the humor in small things again. Once you start small, then you will begin to find your old humor.
Step 3

*Gain Perspective* Now I don't mean you need to get help that most people are not licensed to give. What you need to do is think. Did you laugh when your friend spilled his drink on himself? Then why would you not laugh at yourself when you do the same thing? (Hint: I'm not even remotely suggesting that you start flinging drinks at each other, as this would be a horrible abuse of the liquid libations.)

Trust me, when you walk into the tree branch that you did not see because you were in such a hurry, and so busy being mad at your boss because she's a schmuck, IT'S FUNNY. Or at least it will be funny when the bleeding stops, or you've recovered from the concussion (that was some tree).