Sometimes, you just need humor.
In 6th grade I played on our school basketball team. Our team was invited to a tournament that brought together the best small and large schools across Wisconsin to play in a single tournament. It didn’t matter what size school or where you were from, they simply invited the best 16 teams in the state to play against each other.
We were honored. But we were a very small school and wanted to show that we could play with the larger schools, and larger kids (literally).
We were a very good team and had a very competitive spirit in general. We wanted to win. No excuses.
In the first game during the tournament, we were playing horrible. It wasn’t necessarily that the other team was bigger, faster, or better skilled than us. We simply were playing badly and making mistakes we normally would not make.
We got toward the end of the game, maybe 3 or 4 minutes left to play, and the score was very close with the other team ahead by 2 points.
Our coach (Coach DeVries) called a timeout and gave us directions and a play that we should execute.
Immediately after the timeout, we went out there and screwed it up. To top it off, the other team scored and now had a larger lead! This all happened in a matter of 15 seconds after the timeout.
Coach called a second timeout right after the other team scored. He looked furious..!
Our entire team thought we were going to get yelled at. We easily and rightly deserved a strong voice at that time.
Instead, Coach DeVries' demeanor changed. He huddled our 5 players up and promptly tells a joke.
Between our team being upset and competitive, we all found ourselves cracking a smile and even laughing at the joke.
I can’t remember what the specific joke was, but I remember all 5 of us laughing.
Coach ended our huddle with something along the lines of “just go out and finish the game, just play basketball, have fun.”
He didn't tell us what we did wrong. He didn’t give us directions for what to do next. He didn’t give us a certain play to run. He didn't tell us what to do on the court at all. He said nothing but the joke and “have fun.”
We ended up winning that game.
Sometimes in life and in work, things can go horribly wrong. And sometimes a smile, a joke, and some humor can help pull you out of the negative.
Sometimes a joke can make the pressure that you are feeling dissipate.
Sometimes humor can allow space in your mind for perspective to seep in.
I have found that sometimes I need to laugh at how horribly things might be going in that moment. I will find myself having a little chuckle, shaking my head, smiling, and then continuing on.
Now, not all situations call for humor but more often than not I find myself worrying or fixating a little too much on what is going wrong, and every now and then a little humor can allow us to get over the hump and back on track.
Week 13 of 52
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