Learn to Lighten the Moment

When ill luck besets us, to ease the tension we have only to remember that happiness is relative. The next time you are tempted to grumble about what has happened to you, why not pause and be glad that it is no worse than it is?

– Dale Carnegie

Being lighthearted in the midst of our drama and trauma helps maintain sanity. Our fond memories are of humorous moments when we kept our sense of humor rather than let the trials and tribulations of life govern and destroy our mood. We spend most of our time looking for a laugh or having one, so why not make a conscious choice to put laughter first?

Consider the alternative; being grumpy and allowing every crisis crush our spirit. We must use sunshine to lose that dark cloud that seems to follow us. Things go from bad to worse when we let minor aggravations sour our outlook. Learn to look for the rainbow in the pouring rain.

When dealing with a disappointment that negatively affects your mood, try asking this question, “A hundred years from now, who will care that…?” When seen from this perspective, most troubles seem ridiculously small and hardly worth the heartache. Even events as traumatic as losing a job or wrecking the car, providing there were no serious injuries, can actually become material for motivation to look back and laugh, usually at ourselves, for taking it so seriously in the first place.

When random misfortune is viewed as some sort of bizarre absurdity rather than something we caused, it becomes easier to see the humor in the situation. Self-deprecating humor is built on Murphy’s Law. The more insanely ridiculous the combination of events, the better. Almost every sit-com is based on this principle. If you burn your tongue on your coffee, ruin your shirt, and back over your mailbox all at the same time, get the same enjoyment out of it your neighbor did as they watched you do it! Apply this philosophy to even the most difficult circumstances and you’ll find them immeasurably easier to deal with. Own it, laugh about it, and overcome it!

In every job, relationship, or life situation there is inevitably some turbulence. Learn to laugh at it. It is part of what you do and who you are.

– Allen Klein, former business manager for The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Sam Cooke