Have you ever thought about which personality trait might be the most preferred in yourself or another? While compassion and empathy rank high on most lists, I believe the ability to laugh at oneself is priceless in day-to-day life.  

Being able to laugh at the fact that we all make mistakes — is healthy.  It doesn’t make us weak. To the contrary, both emotionally and physically it may even makes us stronger as laughter strengthens immunity as it reduces stress hormones.

There was a time in my younger days when I found it difficult to laugh at myself because I was far more defensive. I was worried, afraid and confused that laughing at my mistakes, equated to laughing AT me.  I internalized this shame as a reflection of who I was vs. a reaction to my actions that likely were ridiculous.

Hopefully a benefit of age is that we accept the fact that we aren’t always going to “do” everything perfectly. When this day arrives, our sense of fear declines.  We become a lot more pleasant to be around and our successes in a variety of areas tend to increase because when we are less invested in our egos, others are more likely to become more helpful. 

Laughing at our “misses” enables us to see that others aren’t laughing “at” us — rather they’re laughing “with” us… and likely feeling relieved as they relate the moment to their own fallible natures.

I’m @DianGriesel aka @SilverDisobedience — the author of The Silver Disobedience Playbook ✨ I’m a Perception Analyst who shares my Daily Meditations for other Ageless, Passionate & Curious People.  Modeling info @Whlm.newyork —other info in my bio & on my websites.