“The healthiest, holiest, and happiest people on the planet are those who laugh at themselves the most.”

A thought by Mark Batterson, Richard Foth, and Susanna Foth Aughtmon (2015-04-28) from their book, A Trip around the Sun: Turning Your Everyday Life into the Adventure of a Lifetime  (p. 62). Baker Publishing Group. Kindle Edition. (Click on the title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.)

Do you really take yourself so seriously that if you do something dumb you don’t share it because you don’t want people to laugh at you?  I understand.  I’ve had problems with that.  The key is to realize that “the healthiest, holiest, and happiest people on the planet are those who laugh at themselves the most.”  Pride is not our friend.

Here is what Mark says, “One of the things that defines our culture at National Community Church is our theology of fun. We take God seriously, but we don’t take ourselves seriously. We have cultivated a culture of honor, but we’ve also cultivated a culture of humor. Those two things aren’t unrelated.”  Then he says, “The healthiest, holiest, and happiest people on the planet are those who laugh at themselves the most. And when you add someone else to the mix, it gets even better. Victor Borge said, ‘Laughter is the shortest distance between two people.’” 

Maybe that is why we spend so much time alone.  We take ourselves too seriously. 

He then says, “Laughter forms an emotional, spiritual, and physiological bond that can’t be quickly broken.”

The other day I was walking out the door and I padded down all my pockets to see if I had everything and I didn’t feel my keys.  I knew I would need those to lock the door and drive the car so I went back inside to find them and I couldn’t find them until I looked in my left hand and there they were.  And I laughed and told Margaret what had happened.  At 68 I have a lot of those moments so life can be a time of fun or a time of despair.  I choose the fun.

What about you?