In trying times, try humor

These are trying times… How are you holding up?
The last few weeks have been unlike anything most of us have ever faced in our life times. Some of us are more at risk than others, some of us may have loved ones who have fallen ill, and some of us may simply be inconvenienced for awhile (I think we’d all choose the latter, right?).

We’ve all seen social media posts, YouTube videos, and news coverage with some of the most outrageous and inconsiderate behavior on exhibit by our fellow human beings. It’s emotionally upsetting and can make even the most calm among us very, very angry.

It’s important to realize that those poor examples do not represent the majority of our neighbors and fellow citizens. They are the exception — not the rule.

When you see these stories in your news feeds, you get to control your response. You can react with rage and resentment and let it upset you, or you can call upon your sense of humor to keep you grounded, level, and prevent you from ruining your day (and everyone else’s) over something you have zero control over.

Remember those idiot students who decided going through with their spring break plans in the midst of a viral outbreak seemed like a good idea? People talked about those kids for days. They were filled with fury over the immature actions of a few flakes they’ll never meet and wouldn’t have paid any attention to their advice (or acrimony) if they had met. So their rankling response really had no impact other than to upset themselves for hours (or days) until something else caught their eye in the news.

Those same people could have instead chosen to laugh at those imbeciles and ridicule their actions. Make them the butt of the joke instead of headline news.

I especially liked this response from a cartoonist who decided to create caricatures of boneheaded spring breakers. The artists made them look as ridiculous as they sounded in their TV news coverage. I’m waiting for an animator to take those likenesses and add the news soundbites. It’s sort of like a modern day version of the Dorian Gray portrait where the artwork reveals the true nature of these idiots.

The next time something gets you upset, think about what you can do in order to poke fun at the cause and regain some control over your response by using your sense of humor.

Unfortunately, I think the coming weeks are going to give us plenty of opportunity to practice this technique…