Laughter is the Best Medicine

Being able to make a mistake, learn from it, and improve what you do from there is a very important skill that many people lack. I have a story that talks about how I used laughter to learn from my mistakes and move forward. It all began the spring of freshman year. Basketball was over and we were beginning the transition into baseball season. For a freshman, I was good at baseball in many eyes and had to live up to my complete potential to be able to compete with the other classes. I’ve worked harder than I ever have before, putting in countless hours of practice. One day at practice I was off my game messing up my hitting and my fielding skills. I took a breath looked at coach and said, “If I keep this up I’ll be playing for the middle school team”. We all got a good laugh out of it but it was time to put in work.  In this situation laughing about the mistake I made truly makes me a better player. It makes me realize that no matter how “good” people say you might be or the potential you have mistakes do happen and it’s best to understand how/where you screwed up and fix it in the best way possible. Baseball is a very competitive sport and I understand that which is why it means so much to me. I think of that day as a bump in the road of mine. I realized that no matter how good you may think you are you are capable of making mistakes. It’s how you come back from those mistakes, put in more effort to practice, show more determination and pride for yourself and your team. Going off of being able to laugh at yourself, it is also important to understand that if you make a mistake you should never give up and quit, you need to think about the reasons why you decide to do whatever it is you do and what impact it has on your life and what would happen if you decided to give it up. Mistakes can happen at anytime to anyone which is why it is ok if people make mistakes. Baseball has taught me that no matter how hard you struggle or think you are bad keep pushing forward toward the goal of getting a base hit, or catching a fly ball, or hitting a homerun. It’s all the mistakes we make leading up to us accomplishing our journey that people see and understand. It’s the hard days of putting in work and focusing during fielding that people don’t see. Those people only see you make the mistakes and judge you off of them. Silence the haters and show them why you belong. Show them that there is so much more than just a mistake. It’s getting up, brushing yourself off, looking at the sky, and doing it again but this time faster, stronger, better. If you aren’t able to laugh at yourself about the mistakes you made then you’re too self conscious and are afraid of failure. The journey to the top of the mountain is a long and treacherous journey but once you get past all of those obstacles and finally reach the top of that mountain the view is amazing knowing how far you’ve come from the beginning. Laughter has also been known as the best medicine. Being able to laugh at mistakes, bad situations, awkward moments, and in general is such a calming way to get rid of anxiety and nerves. When people can laugh at their own mistakes it allows them to also problem solve, and come up with ideas on how to change what they are doing and fix it, making them successful. In conclusion, You MUST fail before you can succeed in life and that’s for everyone. Coming from the personal experience I just shared with you it is important to be able to laugh at yourself, evaluate your choices and fix what you need to fix to be the best YOU that you can be. Don’t be afraid to be different and don’t be afraid to stand out.. You’re human.. Laugh it off. Photo on Foter.com