Laughing at yourself

… it’s a skill.

A couple of weeks ago, I woke up on the floor of my local doctor’s surgery after passing out cold whilst having blood taken early on a Monday morning. A nurse and a doctor were racing around the room in a flustered fashion, arranging my feet up on a chair and placing a pillow beneath my head whilst repeating to me over and over “You’re ok, you’re going to be ok, everything’s fine, don’t panic now!”

I was, of course, both perfectly calm and perfectly used to the ever-so-slightly humiliating fainting process. After all, in my time I’ve fallen off balconies and smashed my face on the corners of radiators; frankly, waking up devoid of injuries, in the recovery position and surrounded by trained professionals was a definite win in comparison. I looked back up at them with an ironic grin, and retorted: “I’m fine, thank you. In fact, I can’t think of a better way to spend a Monday morning other than lying down with a comfy pillow and my feet up.”

Similarly, I felt slightly abashed whilst upside down, two metres underwater at the deep end of my local swimming pool during an impromptu round of the “can you make funny-shaped air bubbles with your mouth and then catch them before they hit the surface” game, when a confused looking man passed overhead and scrutinised me judgingly with his begoggled eyes. Apparently, grown women are frowned upon when they pretend to be dolphins and play “catch the air bubbles” whilst swimming.

Embarassment is subjective. It depends on so many external factors - culture, environment, company; however it relies just as much on those inside of yourself, such as personality, sensitivity and experience. From the point of view of an optimist, there are therefore aspects of the emotion which are well within your control.

My granny always says – if you didn’t laugh you’d cry. I wholeheartedly agree with this doctrine; after all, it’s got her through a healthy 97 years. And I don’t know about you, but I much prefer a good giggle over an embarrassed blush.