How quickly things that begin in jest end up becoming serious! How quickly the colour fades from many things that should have been taken lightly. Some innocent jokes can even reach a point where they cost someone their life. Do we really need to take things that seriously?
They had started talking to each other quite normally. Somewhere along the way, one of them said something in a way that sounded like teasing the other. The person who heard it felt that he was being insulted. His ego was hurt. What followed was a fierce war of words. Words flew wildly in all directions, missing their intended targets. Even after many years have passed, they remain enemies to this day. If either of them had been able to take that particular matter as a joke, such a distance would never have developed between them.
Some things have to be let go. Some things should not be given excessive importance. Haven’t we heard people say of some individuals that they “walk around with their noses in the air”? It would be good if this kind of pride actually helped solve problems. But what we usually see is that it only makes matters worse.
The insistence that everyone should behave towards us exactly as we want them to, and the discomfort we experience even when there is the slightest reaction different from what we expect, will damage relationships. We often hear that we should accept ourselves, encourage ourselves and nurture ourselves. But excessive self-importance and an unwillingness to compromise can destroy relationships. To avoid this, a few suggestions can be made.
Listen to jokes. Share amusing things with your friends. Instead of worrying excessively about small mistakes, learn to laugh when you remember them. Try to laugh at yourself. If we ourselves do not take ourselves too seriously, the mockery or belittling of others will not weaken us so much. Only a person with a deep sense of self-awareness can make fun of themselves and treat themselves lightly.
Just as important as learning to take ourselves lightly is developing a humorous nature and spending time with people who approach things with ease. There are many people who cannot accept or accommodate even an innocent joke. When we begin to think, “This is all there is to life; this much is enough-there is no need to take everything so seriously,” we can step back from many things and look at them from a
distance.
We can also learn to evaluate situations from other people’s points of view. Give up the insistence that everything must be perfect and everything must be exactly right. There are people who believe that only what they say is right. They advise others, but they will not accept advice from anyone else. They will have a justification for everything they do.
Such ‘justification workers’ create an unbearable sense of weariness and dryness in relationships. In other words, they take only themselves seriously.
When those who take themselves seriously give at least half that seriousness and importance to others as well, their perspectives and approaches begin to change, and life becomes a little more beautiful.
