how to laugh at ones self

[blue eyed snake]

I'm currently on a dutch forum about food as way to heal digestion and other issues

 

the webmaster is a very conceited guy, he thinks he knows it all and is rigid about it. Differing opinions are not tolerated. Still, just as here, some smart people around there with useful info and nice weblinks i would not have found so easily. So I read, but rarely post.

 

At first this guy irritated me, with his fullblown ego... 

 

some weeks ago something changed in me, I now regularly have laughing bouts when reading his posts, its just so funny. The way he is defending ( vehemently) his way to look at things, not able to see that there are other ways to look at topics, and other things needed for healing besides what you eat. Yapping about the healthiness of raw milk, when there are many people like me on that forum who can't digest dairy anymore and become real sick when they eat/drink it. 

 

In fact, I'm laughing at the way he advertises his ego.

 

But, he's mirroring me, in some ways I'm of course just like him. I'm a rigid smartass too, and i have difficulty absorbing things that are new to me. I hope I'm not as bad as he is but still.

 

Now I think, if i would be able to laugh as hard at my own stupid egoic hankerings and defences, that would be a good thing,

 

anybody ideas of how to laugh at ones self?

[silent thunder]

For me, it used to take a long time... and then I would cringe recalling my antics.

 

Then, it still took a long time, but I would smile and chuckle sometimes at the 'seriousness' with which I took it all.

 

Thankfully, of late, the full on laughter comes soon, sometimes before I even finish the sentences of my rants...

[Marblehead]

Yeah, even though I have a pretty healthy ego I do know how to laugh at myself and sometimes I will even make a joke at my own expense.

 

I think that being able to laugh at our self is important.  Many of us take life all too seriously.

[doc benway]

I'm currently on a dutch forum about food as way to heal digestion and other issues

 

the webmaster is a very conceited guy, he thinks he knows it all and is rigid about it. Differing opinions are not tolerated. Still, just as here, some smart people around there with useful info and nice weblinks i would not have found so easily. So I read, but rarely post.

 

At first this guy irritated me, with his fullblown ego... 

 

some weeks ago something changed in me, I now regularly have laughing bouts when reading his posts, its just so funny. The way he is defending ( vehemently) his way to look at things, not able to see that there are other ways to look at topics, and other things needed for healing besides what you eat. Yapping about the healthiness of raw milk, when there are many people like me on that forum who can't digest dairy anymore and become real sick when they eat/drink it. 

 

In fact, I'm laughing at the way he advertises his ego.

 

But, he's mirroring me, in some ways I'm of course just like him. I'm a rigid smartass too, and i have difficulty absorbing things that are new to me. I hope I'm not as bad as he is but still.

 

Now I think, if i would be able to laugh as hard at my own stupid egoic hankerings and defences, that would be a good thing,

 

anybody ideas of how to laugh at ones self?

 

I think I started taking myself less seriously the first time I opened my mouth to speak and my father's words came out.

It was shocking!

It was a bit terrifying!

And it helped me to see just how conditioned and automated I can be. 

The other thing that helps is to really pay attention to the thoughts that I dwell on.

These thoughts just come into my head and I can narrate a ridiculous story over and over to myself.

It happens all the time but I'm usually so caught up in the content that I'm not aware of the process.

I just talk to myself over and over, usually about meaningless, petty stuff; often stuff that I know gets me angry and yet I go there far too much. 

Then I imagine saying that stuff out loud, whether alone or with other people around.

And I just laugh at myself.

I can be ridiculous and an ass, so can you I imagine but that's for you to say.

[Brian]

I just look down at my jacket & boots...

 

[gendao]

the webmaster is a very conceited guy, he thinks he knows it all and is rigid about it. Differing opinions are not tolerated.

 

At first this guy irritated me, with his fullblown ego... 

 

some weeks ago something changed in me, I now regularly have laughing bouts when reading his posts, its just so funny. The way he is defending ( vehemently) his way to look at things, not able to see that there are other ways to look at topics, and other things needed for healing besides what you eat.

 

In fact, I'm laughing at the way he advertises his ego.

 

But, he's mirroring me, in some ways I'm of course just like him. I'm a rigid smartass too, and i have difficulty absorbing things that are new to me. I hope I'm not as bad as he is but still.

 

Now I think, if i would be able to laugh as hard at my own stupid egoic hankerings and defences, that would be a good thing,

 

anybody ideas of how to laugh at ones self?

How are your spleen, small intestine, & large intestine meridians doing?

Spleen Meridian affects the spleen, pancreas, blood formation and hormones. It influences the creation and storage of chi energy, through the transformation of food and water.

Energetic disturbances in the spleen meridian may involve one or more of the following emotional factors: Obsession, Worry, Hopelessness, Living through others, Being obsessed about things, Low self-esteem, Poor self image, Feeling of not being good enough.

Mental signs of Spleen channel disorders include mental sluggishness; vertigo; melancholia; obsessions turned toward the past; fixed and rigid ideas; sleepwalking; agitated sleep; and nightmares.

when the Small Intestine Official is healthy, we have the power to recognize, separate, and retain the goodness - even from the nastiest of environments - to cast aside the rubbish left by nature, as well as by the sickness and imbalance of others.

The emotions connected with the large intestine are those of sadness, loss, guilt, emotional and mental stagnation, grief and the inability to flow with life.

The function of metal is that of providing a sense of boundary and routine and a key theme is harvesting the fruits of the expansive summer and storing up for cold winter to come. It is a transformative process from life to death and as the journey turns inward and becomes heavier the energy moves down, back towards the earth.

People with large intestine imbalance often hold onto old stuff, feel regret and are rigid, tend towards perfectionist and think that no one and nothing is good enough.

The dynamic created by the lung and large intestine teaches us that life is a cycle of taking in and letting go and transformation.

Transformation. Change. Letting Go. Moving On.

The Large Intestine energy also has a special relationship with the Stomach energy, in that they are both designated as “Yang Ming” or “Yang Brightness”.

This means that they are easily affected by heat. This heat may be generated by long-term patterns of stagnant energy, a poor diet, or physically or emotionally toxic environments. The Yang Ming designation also means that we can effectively use these systems to clear pathological heat from the body. Some of the best acupuncture points in the body to clear excess heat are on the Large Intestine meridian.

The Large Intestine energy’s number one function in the body is to let go of those things that don’t serve us. Physically, it lets go of waste after our upper digestive system has taken all the necessary nutrients out of the food we eat. On an emotional level, the Large Intestine does the exact same thing.

“The Large Intestine is the official of the transmission of the Way, change and transformation emerge from it.”  Change and transformation come from being open to the new, and ready and willing to let go of the old. There is only room for new and positive transformation when we are able to move on from the patterns that hold us to where we are now.

[roger]

My older sister has accused me before of not being able to take a joke.

 

I do feel that I take myself too seriously.

 

I tend to be very sensitive and get hurt fairly easily though and that can influence a person to be very serious.

 

There's a channeled book called Steps to Knowledge which, like ACIM, has a year long workbook, and one of the lessons is: "I am lighthearted and serious at the same time."

 

Maybe that's what people who are too serious need, to learn a healthy ambiguity, to be simultaneously serious and not serious.

[Marblehead]

Seems to be a good time to say:

 

Everything matters but nothing really matters.

[blue eyed snake]

For me, it used to take a long time... and then I would cringe recalling my antics.

 

Then, it still took a long time, but I would smile and chuckle sometimes at the 'seriousness' with which I took it all.

 

Thankfully, of late, the full on laughter comes soon, sometimes before I even finish the sentences of my rants...

 

yep, cringe recalling my antics, It seems i passing that stage, I still recall my antics , but am somewhat softer for myself. So it's a process, I'll keep going for the laughter-phase 

[blue eyed snake]

Yeah, even though I have a pretty healthy ego I do know how to laugh at myself and sometimes I will even make a joke at my own expense.

 

I think that being able to laugh at our self is important.  Many of us take life all too seriously.

 

seems to be nothing wrong with your ego but you should make jokes at your own account oftener 

it is indeed time for me to change back to my cartoon-avatar, that would be a nice visual reminder

[blue eyed snake]

I think I started taking myself less seriously the first time I opened my mouth to speak and my father's words came out.

It was shocking!

It was a bit terrifying!

And it helped me to see just how conditioned and automated I can be. 

 

Yes, i see that. Some time ago i was talking to one of my sisters and afterwards thought, : you're acting and talking just like our mom....later realizing i do much the same..

Now that I read your words i can make the connection to, not only, being locked in old, automated patterns, but where their roots lie.

 

 

The other thing that helps is to really pay attention to the thoughts that I dwell on.

These thoughts just come into my head and I can narrate a ridiculous story over and over to myself.

 

 i value your opinions, it's good/reassuring/something to read that you are like this,

 

It happens all the time but I'm usually so caught up in the content that I'm not aware of the process.

 

yes, it just happens, again and again. And even though there are different ' storylines'  there seems to be one recurring theme here

 

I just talk to myself over and over, usually about meaningless, petty stuff; often stuff that I know gets me angry and yet I go there far too much. 

Then I imagine saying that stuff out loud, whether alone or with other people around.

And I just laugh at myself.

 

that's a nice bit of practical advice, i'll try that!

 

I can be ridiculous and an ass, so can you I imagine but that's for you to say.

 

oh, I am 

[Kar3n]

I am working on that one myself, BES.

 

After a few tears, the the just laughter comes naturally.

[blue eyed snake]

How are your spleen, small intestine, & large intestine meridians doing?

 

Thank you Gendao, for this short overview in TCM regarding my question. it's spot-on and these problems have been as long as i can remember. both the problems with the intestines ( spleen i don't know) and being a rigid smartass.

 

spring 2014 i had changed much for the better, qigong and mediation ( and being with my teacher) has done wonders for me. But then all these sickness came. winter 14-15 the respiratory system, last winter my whole digestion ( and energy) out of whack.

 

teacher told me I have to find out what foods i am sensitive for and it's slowly going better. But he also remarked on how fast I have opened my channels, pretty out of character for him.

 

but looking back i see that last winter was, emotionally seen, not only a repeat but a worsening of the old patterns. It's going better now and i know that when i slowly pick up my practice again, the channels will open again. Slowly al the parts of the puzzle are coming together, and your post is decidedly helpful.

 

I am amazed by the way that TCM describes the processes I'm doing right now.

 

I'll read up through the links later

[blue eyed snake]

I just look down at my jacket & boots...

 

 

old Tom is an amazing fellow,

 

he IS 

[blue eyed snake]

I am working on that one myself, BES.

 

After a few tears, the the just laughter comes naturally.

 

thanks, but I've shed ocean's of tears, i very much hope that the well is drying up now. And the last weeks my illness is abating and laughing comes naturally again. Thereby helping in the healing process.

 

It's indeed the way Steve puts it, i see the idiotic mindloops, the defences i create in my skul. When i become aware of them i do not take them serious, and it came to me that laughing at them, a real bellylaugh, might be a way to curb them to a smaller size

[silent thunder]

Realized today that a strong contributing factor to my not taking myself so seriously, is my concerted effort over the last few years, based on strong, repeated observations, that I should stop taking much of what happens around me and to me, personally...

 

It so often has absolutely nothing to do with me personally.

[blue eyed snake]

Realized today that a strong contributing factor to my not taking myself so seriously, is my concerted effort over the last few years, based on strong, repeated observations, that I should stop taking much of what happens around me and to me, personally...

 

It so often has absolutely nothing to do with me personally.

 

Yes, nice you bring it up, I see those two as the sides of a coin.

When the importance of judgments of other people diminishes, the mind seems to get calmer

[thelerner]

I've heard laughing's purpose in evolution is a to defuse group tension. 

[gendao]

I also assume you've tried colonics, too?  If not, you could probably use a series...

[Marblehead]

Thanks but I will pass on that shit.

[blue eyed snake]

I've heard laughing's purpose in evolution is a to defuse group tension. 

 

yes, strange isn't it. All other animals see bared teeth as a threat, we humans use it as a sign of friendship and trust.

The laughing face is a needed part of taiji and research has ( confirmed this) found out that people who have a smile on their face also have a more positive outlook on the world.

 

I once heard that the smiling ' Taiji-face' helps to get the central channel (more) open.

 

 

but the real belly-laugh does something else, it gives a liberating feel, a sense of freedom

[blue eyed snake]

I also assume you've tried colonics, too?  If not, you could probably use a series...

 

 

I've thought about it, thanks for bringing it to my attention again.

Edited April 24, 2016 by blue eyed snake