Thursdays Thought~The Tears of a Clown"

"You grow up the day you have your first real laugh at yourself"~Ethyl Barrymore

I love this quote, although the first time I saw it it rather puzzled me since I believed that I had always been able to laugh at myself. True I had always had a sense of humor; had always used jokes as a way of making friends, lightening the mood or coping with difficult situations. I may have laughed at myself publicly in that self deprecating way that we hope will excuse all of our social fumbles , the old "I meant to do that" as you fall off our bike. It wasn't until I had really learned a thing or two about life and human behavior that I admitted to myself that while I was laughing on the outside I was horribly insecure and unhappy on the inside. Like that song by Smokey Robinson, "Tears of a Clown", I wasn't really laughing at myself, I was just trying to beat others to it.
To be able to truly laugh at yourself you have to be able to step outside of the little box of worry and self importance we all build around ourselves and take a look from the outside. You have to realize that although you forgive your friends  for doing stupid things, you hold yourself to a much higher standard. Finally you have to muster up the humility to say "Why am I the only one that's supposed to be perfect? What's so special about me?" Only then can you begin to chip away at the Ego to reveal the absurdity of the expectations of perfection and "coolness" we hold for ourselves . Then, when we finally realize that there are indeed times we look like a complete fool and that's ok but everyone gets their turn as the Fool; then we have truly "grown up"



© 2011 Nanakoosa’s Place, authored by Jennifer Hazard