I did something different last night. My wife, Annie, scored some great seats for Sarah Silverman. I watched the warmup act and then Sarah came on. In her matter of fact way, Sarah joked about sex and various ethnic groups. As Sarah said on numerous occasions that comedians will put it way out there to get a laugh. Anything goes.

I thought about her act and the act of other comedians that I have watched throughout the years. What is it that most comedians have in common? It’s about laughing. Most of them look for the humor in their life situation. If they’re are single, they joke about being single. If it’s being from a particular ethnic group they make fun of that group.

Their always that line between something being offensive or being funny. And that’s the way our lives are. If we’re feeling uptight, we’re more apt to be offended. Letting go is the key. If we’re feeling good, things don’t seem to bother us. If someone makes a remark that we might otherwise react to, we might joke back to them.

Of course it’s less offensive when they joke about their own situation which Sarah did about being Jewish.

Of course we go to hear comedy to be entertained; to laugh. And what the comedians do is by making fun of themselves is to model for us to see the humor in our life situation.

I’m always looking for the humor in every situation. It’s not always easy to find it. Comedians help us remember to laugh. Laughing at ourselves is a start and a place to come back to.

I’m very familiar with the idea that no matter what happens there is something to be learned. And I look for it. What if we looked for the humor in every situation. No matter what is going on, even in the midst of pain, we are able to laugh. What if we made humor a value that we began to cultivate just as success or happiness.

It’s time to laugh.

Journey On

Mark

JOURNEY ON is a blog dedicated to personal and professional development. Mark Susnow,JD, is an Executive and Life Coach, who inspires others to believe in themselves. A former successful trial attorney for 30 years and musician, he integrates what it takes to be successful in the world with the inner wisdom unfolded to him through years of yoga and meditation. He also publishes, Letters on Life, an inspirational ezine. Signup! http://www.inspirepossibility.com

This entry was posted on Monday, September 8th, 2008 at 4:40 pm and is filed under inspiration, relationships, life coaching, executive coaching, personal coaching and mentoring, change, personal growth and development, transitions, life balance, connection, life purpose, life coach. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.