If we can laugh at a heavy burden, the burden itself becomes lighter. When we smile into the eyes of misfortune, misfortune itself dissolves into a wheel of fortune, which spins around, sometimes blissful, sometimes struggling, always changing and hopeful. It’s good to lighten up with the way we approach our tasks, our expectations, and especially our ideologies. If we believe that things ought be a certain way, we’re carrying our spirit in a straitjacket. When we let the great iniquities and injustices of the world possess us, we remain their prisoner. Complaining weighs us down and makes us more miserable and hopeless, not less. Anger and outrage make us feel better (and superior) but we can get stuck there and believe outrage to be enough. It isn’t. We get heavier and more hardened and less able to accomplish the great task of reaching out and effecting change. But humor levitates us, and penetrates the heart of a situation so that we are energized and motivated to act. Sympathy and love work equally well. Step lightly into the fray—especially the fray of your thoughts. Lightening up lightens everyone.
