We've Got to Laugh a Little

I'm a fool for melancholy.  I'm drawn to all things bittersweet.  I cry watching cartoons, for the love of Pete! Remember the movie Beaches with Bette Midler?  Wow, was that a tear jerker if I ever saw one...

Anyway...one of my favorite parts in the movie is when Bette Midler sings the song "The Glory of Love."  This song, in a way, reminds me of Ecclesiastes 3: 1-8... "There is a time for everything..."

Sigh...

The song says:

You've got to give a little, take a little

And let your poor heart break a little

That's the story of, that's the glory of love

You've got to laugh a little, cry a little

Before the clouds roll by a little

That's the story of, that's the glory of love

There IS, indeed, a time for everything under the sun.  That's the balance under which God's perfect design functions.  But I think, in my case, I forget the balance.  I let my life become lopsided...off kilter due to the heaviness of my worries and the perceived seriousness of the situations that surround me.  In other words, I cry A LOT and laugh, just a little.  

"You take yourself WAY too seriously," Dan always tells me.  Really, he has been telling me that since shortly after we met, over 26 years ago.  The funny thing is, he is right... yikes... don't tell him I said that :) 

I have a hard time laughing at myself and at my circumstances.  Everything is a crisis.  The smallest breeze becomes a hurricane.  Every little thing seems so life-altering from where I sit.

I'm exhausted...

Today, author Holley Gerth reminded me of all these.  In chapter 5 of her book You're Going to Be Okay, it says:  "signature insecurities tell us to take ourselves and our lives way too seriously.  Sometimes poking a bit of fun at them can be like popping a balloon." (100)

My signature insecurity, or at least one of them, is that I feel unlovable.  Why would anybody ever love me?  I'm the worst person in the world...I don't deserve to be loved...blah, blah, blah...right?  When my insecurity button gets pressed, all I do is confirm my own beliefs about myself.  I become the unlovable creature that I have fabricated in my mind.  Then, I want to run away.  It's life-shattering.  I don't want to be unlovable!  This is serious stuff!  I mean, how could I ever poke a bit of fun at this issue to deflate it like Tom Brady's footballs?  OOPS...sorry Patriots' fans all around! :)  

I don't know.  It's a matter of personality, I think.  Some are better than others in the art of self-deprecating humor.  If we could master it, though...the world could be ours!  Really, think about it! If you could beat everyone else to the punch line of your own life, nobody would ever be able to stay mad at you for too long.  

Comedic timing is not my forte, though...but, like most things, it might be possible to get better at it with practice.  It might be worth the try to regain the much needed balance in my day-to-day walk in this valley of tears.  

My insecurity is only in my head.  It's a tool of the enemy to try to separate me from My Heavenly Father.  I can't let the enemy win.  I am dearly loved.  So, as a strategy to dealing with my insecurity triggers, I'm going to try to turn it from serious to silly.  I have to get in touch with my inner fool so the melancholy fades as the silliness emerges.  When Dylan tells me that I'm mean, I would tell him: "Yes, I'm mean! and I'm going to tear you to pieces and eat you up, 'cause I love you so much!"

Then, he'll run away from me and call the Police or Child-Services...

There is a time to cry, but also a time to laugh...I pray I can get to laugh more than just a little, so my crying time gets back to the level I can manage in order to see my life be more balanced.