HUMOR— THE ABILITY TO TRANSCEND

The only way that you can laugh at something unpleasant, incongruent, or even distressful is to step back from it. When you are in something, it is next to impossible to see what could be funny. That’s why the things you laugh at with friends when you reminisce about old times are the very things that when you were there, you could not laugh about. It is only with the distance of time, space, or psychological growth that you are able now to look back and laugh. And don’t you say this? Haven’t you said, at one time or another, “Well, one day I’ll look back on this and laugh”?

So, why not now? Why not laugh sooner rather than later? And if this is good for you and me, it is also good for our coaching clients. In fact, because our clients are usually high performers and people who are more likely than not to take risks, stretch out of their comfort zone, and make really good mistakes (and not little measly mistakes)— they will all the more need humor as a saving grace.