Don’t Take Yourself Too Seriously

Lighten up. It could save your life — seriously.

I’ve been having a really fun time these last few weeks. As the weather warms up and the world comes alive again, I’ve felt more like myself, and like the dark wintery clouds that hung over my head for a couple months finally just… dissipated. I’ve been more social, less serious, and, did I mention less serious?

I find that when I say I “feel more like myself,” I mean I feel more carefree. My general disposition, for those who know me well, tends to be a pretty sunny one. I like to look on the bright side; to see the good in folks as much as possible; to spend my time laughing, even at myself from time to time, and leaning into the humorous, absurdist aspects of this (sincerely) miraculous existence whenever possible.

All that said, I recently asked myself, “If that’s the case, why do I tend to abandon those traits entirely when life gets even throws a minor stressor my way?” Of course, we all have moments in life that are no laughing matter (when we really have to dig deep), and moments that we can just take as they come (when we can let our hair down somewhat and just live a little) — but when our parasympathetic nervous system isn’t quite as regulated as it should be (and, spoiler alert, many of us aren’t quite there yet), we might find ourselves overreacting to more insignificant stressors. Let me explain —

How to stop taking yourself (and thus, your stressors) so seriously

I’ve definitely been there, and can certainly go there some days. I’m sure everyone can relate. I mean, picture this: one little thing goes wrong in your day — spilled coffee, a sassy person on the subway, blah blah blah — and suddenly you decide that life sucks. You jump straight into feeling stressed out, pissed off, and ready to “just give up,” when what happened really wasn’t… well, wasn’t even close to the end of the world. Right?

Sometimes you spill coffee; why isn’t the reaction to laugh at yourself for being a little clumsy, clean it up, and go on about your day? Sometimes someone is sassy on the subway; that sounds like a them problem.

Research even suggests that folks who can laugh at themselves are not only happier, but genuinely even healthier than their more perma-serious counterparts. So maybe laughter really is the best medicine after all? (At least in some cases.)

Again — there are moments in life that really suck. I’ve had moments of grief; moments of loss; moments when I had to really, really lock in, focus, and push through… we all have. Unfortunately, some of us get dealt more of those moments than others, which seems even more unfair. But that said (and luckily), those moments don’t seem to happen every day.

In fact, though those moments have a big impact on our lives, they (fortunately) happen only a handful of times to most of us reading this — and, as painful a truth as that is, it doesn’t summarize the entirety of our existence. So, if today isn’t your day, but it’s also not the end of the world, relax. Get a good laugh in today, however you can, and remember: you don’t have to take life so seriously.

Xoxo,

MM.