By Gabriella Nutile
Co-Copy Editor & Features Editor
One of the biggest life lesson’s I have learned throughout my 21 years is that you need to learn to laugh at yourself.
I think I have become an expert at this. I have had more than my fair share of embarrassing moments, and I’ve learned to take each one in stride and laugh it off because honestly life is too short to take it so seriously.
My best friend and I write each other letters every year for our birthdays that consist of anywhere from 10 to 15 pages with memories that we’ve had since we became close in sixth grade. I would say that more than half of the memories contained in the letters pertain to my hilarious, yet sometimes very awkward, situations that have and keep occurring in my life.
For instance, there is one classic moment that happened in my life in eighth grade that always ends up in our letters.
Back in the day when I was actually decent at math, my friend and I were both in our advanced math class that was taught by Sister Ellen. We each went to our seats, and when I sat down I immediately knew something was wrong with my chair.
I looked over to my friend and asked her to switch with me, whining that the chair I was sitting in was hurting my lower back and too low to the ground. She insisted on not switching, so I was stuck with this chair.
After a few minutes I could not take it anymore, so I went to get up and at this exact moment Sister Ellen and a few boys walked into our classroom. And as I was in the midst of getting up from this unpleasant chair, the legs underneath it gave out and I fell backwards onto the ground with my legs literally flailing in the air.
Now, I’ve gone to Catholic school my whole life and up until college I always wore a uniform, which included a kilt. So there I was with both my legs up in the air with my kilt hanging on my face as I was on the ground. Thank God (pun intended) that I had shorts on underneath or else things would have gone even more awry.
While my best friend was laughing hysterically, I was very much struggling to get up. After my third attempt, I finally got my feet on the ground and my kilt back down to where it should be, and there was Sister Ellen, her face mortified and full of pity; I can still picture it now.
I had the whole class in hysterics, and I just remember looking around and became so happy that I could make my peers laugh that hard. I didn’t mind that they were laughing because I realized how funny it was too and I started cracking up at myself as well. Making others laugh has always been one of my favorite things to do, regardless if it’s at my own expense.
At the end of this whole scenario, Sister Ellen walked up and looked at the chair, picked up the two broken legs and said, “I don’t think we can fix this.” And while we couldn’t fix that chair, what we can fix is our outlook on life.
Being able to laugh at yourself, I believe, is imperative to living a happy life and also shows you have a sense of humor. Laughter is the best medicine, and it’s free, so take advantage of it as much as you can.
