“Wow, we found that fast by working together,” I told my co-worker, Jolene. “Just proves that three heads are better than one!”
“Yes, but I count only two of us here, Jeanette.”
I doubled over with laughter when I realized how I’d changed that wise old saying. When I told my husband about my blunder, I laughed even harder.
“It’s good that you can laugh at yourself,” he said.
“Well, why not? It beats feeling embarrassed by the stupid things I do. Everyone gets discombobulated from time to time. Why should I be exempt from making an idiot of myself? If I can laugh about my flubs, other people around me feel more comfortable. Then when they make mistakes, they won’t be so self-conscious. They see that I’m as real as they are, even though I’m a preacher’s wife. Perhaps when they have a problem that seems overwhelming, they’ll feel comfortable confiding in me, because they’ve witnessed one of my weak moments.”
We gain nothing by pretending to be perfect. We only fool ourselves when we act as if the dumb things we do are someone else’s fault, we meant to do them, or we can’t help ourselves. That’s called pride. It has a big fat “I” in the middle of it, and the Bible says God hates it.
Laughing at ourselves is a way of loving ourselves, of showing that we are comfortable with the person God made us, imperfections and all. So, go ahead. Next time you do or say something crazy—and it probably won’t be too long from now—get free and laugh at yourself.
We’ll like you better, and so will you!
