Thursday, January 12, 2023
Nice people get anything they want. The world loves kindness simply because it’s in such short supply. Funny people can get even more! Humor is such an important tool, not only because people are drawn to it, but because it softens them. I recently listened to an interview of the late Leslie Jordan who learned at a young age to keep the bullies away by being funny. He developed his sense of humor to soften those who might have picked on him. Contentiousness has no effect, unless the other person takes the bait.
Are you easily baited? If so, try being nice, and if that doesn’t work, crack a joke. Those who take themselves seriously, they are the joke. When people create tension, it’s a farce, the ego trying to get everyone and everything to conform. Do you see how laughable that is? But the ego hates to be recognized, but kindness and laughter get it every time. Laughing is one of the most vulnerable human responses. Even the toughest exteriors can break, if you know the folly of the ego. But it must be natural, otherwise it will inflame and make things worse.
Pretense is a thin barrier. Kindness goes right through it. Humor cracks it up. Humans are making a big deal out of things that don’t amount to much. If you can see through the heaviness of it all and genuinely make someone chuckle, they’ll give you the moon. Nicety and humor are practices. They cannot be affected, nor can you “try” by premeditating it all. It has to be natural, in the moment. Is a board meeting really that serious? It would just take one, loud and accidental fart to “clear the air!” We are human. Humans are quirky, weird, and funny. Life is quirky, weird, and funny. Why make it more serious than it needs to be?