We’ve all made the mistake of taking ourselves too seriously sometimes. The good news? For most of us, delusions of grandeur stay in our heads. You wouldn’t believe the shit I still daydream about sometimes.
It’s easy to get caught up in our own narrative. That we’re a big deal. That we bring so much value to whatever or whoever. Luckily, life brings us all backdown. In truth, we’re all replaceable.
Some of us accept that with grace. Others, not so much.
Every so often, you need to sync up with other people’s perceptions of you. Our friends take us for granted. But not all the time. Sometimes, we just think we’re hot shit. For no reason. It’s the adult version of running around the house with a cape made from your bedsheets. Look, everyone. I’m hot shit.
Sometimes we have to believe in ourselves when nobody else does. There’s that, and then there’s lecturing your friend about Aristotle at Applebee’s — just so that she doesn’t forget that you’re, like, really smart.
How people deal with their insignificance says a lot. Me? Sure, it’s a hard flavor to swallow. But I try to take it in stride.
It always sucks to find out you’re not the worst in the room. No matter how great we think we are, somebody else has always accomplished more. That’s not a bad thing or a good thing. Just a fact.
When we do something we love and do it well, then the importance doesn’t matter as much. There’s no need for us all to become millionaire success stories. Most of us just want a job we like, and enough cash to splurge on booze and sushi now and then.
Lots of special people have rough lives. Whether someone else proclaims you’re special, or you do it yourself, it guarantees nothing.
We don’t see a lot of humility on the web these days. It’s easy to think that loud-mouthed braggarts and selfie queens are successful because they promote themselves so much. Words like entrepreneur and influence always make me wince.
Anytime I stress out, I just remind myself. Within a thousand years, every trace of my existence will have vanished. Even Shakespeare might not last that long. What a relief. Try it sometime.
Sometimes you can only be as good as the opportunity you get, and you have to wait for the right one. Hone yourself and improve your skills and use the time when you haven’t reached, because once you feel you’ve arrived, you get very busy with what you need to do and have less time to hone your skills.
It is also a good time to look around and see the work other people are doing and learn to appreciate that. It is important to be humble and not take yourself seriously, and it’s important to enjoy what you do!
When we take ourselves less seriously, we’re able to see the humor in situations, find the silver lining when things don’t go the way we want them to and navigate through the difficulties of life easier.
There are clearly times in life and certain circumstances that are genuinely serious. However, far too often we add unnecessary stress, pressure, and negativity to situations with our attitude of “seriousness.” One of the best things we can do is laugh—at ourselves, at the situation.
Laughter is actually important on many levels. Clearly, it helps shift our perspective and alter our mood, but research shows that it also has quite a positive impact on our physiology—relaxing our muscles, boosting our immune systems, releasing endorphins and decreasing stress hormones, and increasing blood flow to the heart.
I’m not advocating that we laugh ourselves into denial or avoid dealing with the serious aspects of our lives—as we all know, sometimes laughter can be a way of deflecting, or in other unhealthy ways. However, being able to bring lightness, levity, and laughter into our lives and relationships in an authentic and healthy way is one of the best things we can do to take care of ourselves and keep things in perspective.
All kinds of frustrating things (both big and small) will occur in your life—find the humor in the situation and your outlook will change.
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