I’m funny.  Really, I am.  I love to laugh and I love to try and make other people laugh.  I think it is a coping mechanism and how I manage to get through everything from the typical day-to-day stress to the more serious situations.  I think laughter is extremely powerful.  Just one little Joke, even though it may seem trivial or dumb, just one reason to laugh out loud and make something that felt so serious seem so silly, can change your whole outlook. It is so important that we do our best to make light of things and not to get bogged down in life.  And, let’s be honest, life is way too short to take everything so seriously.

But, this blog is not about why laughter is important.  I shouldn’t need to convince anyone of that.  It's about people's reactions to my attempts to be funny.  I try to make light of boring situations at home, at work, with my friends.  And, I think a lot of people recognize what I am doing, just trying to make my day (and maybe theirs) a little more entertaining.  But, recently, I have had some interactions with some obviously serious (OK, you say serious, I say uptight) people.  I have made an attempt at a joke, just to lighten up the mood and…nothing…CRICKETS.   No reaction whatsoever.  In a couple of instances they actually ignored the joke altogether.   Of course, when this happened, I felt really stupid.  Being someone that is really concerned about what other people think of me, I am constantly worried that I did or said something to look ridiculous.  So I worried about looking dumb and I started to filter what I did and said and held back on the jokes, especially at work.  But that is so boring and so, SO not me!

Now, my friends will ALL tell you that I am the secondfunniest person in my group of friends (I would argue otherwise, but they are the judges so they really can’t be wrongJ).  So, I may not be the funniest, but I AM FUNNY.  I am confident about that.  And, my jokes might not be stand-up level material but they are laugh-worthy (or, in our increasingly electronic world, “lol”-worthy).   So, I might not have you ROTL (rolling on the floor laughing, for all of you not on facebook), but you should at least crack a smile.  So, after being bothered by some people’s non-reaction to my attempt at comedy I came to the conclusion that it is not me, it is them.   Some people are very serious.  They can’t appreciate the fact that I try to find humor in almost everything that I do.  Don’t get me wrong, I take things seriously when I have to.  But, I like cracking a joke about something that is otherwise serious.  I like having fun.  And, I think that is a really, really good thing.  I might not be everybody's cup of tea (we all can't have senses of humor, I understand), but I am a lot of fun!

The point of this blog is just to remind people, especially women since we tend to internalize EVERYTHING, that when people have a problem with you and what you are about it is exactly that ...their problem.  It doesn't mean that there is anything wrong with you.  It just means that they don't get it, they don't get you.  Oh well.  Their loss!!  Hopefully after you read this blog you will have a little more confidence to be who you are.  If you are bothered because someone doesn’t appreciate you for who you are (or, like in my case, doesn’t find you funny), just remind yourself it’s not your problem it’s theirs.  You just keep being yourself and I'll keep telling my jokes!  I think they're funny (the funniest actually, but don't tell my friends I said that).

Until next time…