Try to Find Humor in Adversities of Life

“Don’t blame me. It was just one of those days.”

Have you ever excused your bad behavior because you decided fate was against you on that particular day and that everything that could go wrong did go wrong?

Changing your thinking slightly, however, might have enabled you to look at the situation differently.

People who learn to accept adversity often have a great sense of humor. When the car won’t start and the cat gets sick and the trash has been overturned by a wandering neighbor’s dog, you could decide to go back in the house and put a bag over your head.

Or you can choose to laugh at the absurdity of the situation. Here you are dressed in a new suit, on your way to an important meeting. You can smile, then laugh at yourself, and finally laugh out loud.

Take inventory of the odd series of inconveniences that happened to you. Make a funny story about it. Laughter is not only therapeutic, it will get you back on track. Making light of these apparent tragedies can make your day better. Who knows, your plight might make a good story to tell at the office thus giving someone else a good laugh and thereby lightening their day.

It can greatly help you in dealing with life’s injustices and ambiguities if you can inject humor into the situation whenever possible and appropriate.

Next, do something about the situation. Make at least one positive move. Choose to stay in control.

Make a mental note to have the car checked periodically. Don’t wait until the battery is dead to call a mechanic. Ask your neighbor to keep the wandering pet in his own yard, or get a trashcan with a lid it can’t get off. Remember it is your car that won’t start; it does not mean you can’t start the day without it.

Since a bad day or string of bad occurrences can happen to the best of us, analyze the impact of the happenings.

Most things can be fixed. Most material things are not that important. In general, don’t sweat the small stuff. Choose to ignore the little things and refuse to blow them out of proportion. Take stock of what there is and get with it. Say to yourself, this, too, will pass. Today is going to have something special for me after all. There may even be a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

Look at friends and colleagues. Those who handle the inconveniences and the bad things that happen to them are working hard to keep from letting it get them down. You, too, can choose to handle any problem in any way you want. Choose to handle it well. Even with a series of misfortunes, you can choose to act wisely on the things that happen in between.

Say to yourself it is a waste of time to dwell on the difficulties. Don’t spread your misery to those around you.

You would rather be remembered for finding solutions and spreading a little joy than for talking about your problems and seeking sympathy.

Harold H. LeCrone, Jr., Ph.D. Copyright © 1992