By Elisabeth Strillacci

Sometimes you just have to laugh.

I was at dinner with friends at an event, and got a text from one of them that was so clearly not meant for me.

I leaned forward and asked, quietly, “Was that text for me?”

The fellow sitting next to her burst out laughing when my friend looked confused, and then mortified.

It was not a terribly personal text, certainly nothing offensive, but the best thing we could all do, and did, was laugh.

I think there are times when we goof that we can make much too big an issue of it.

Instead, maybe those times, the best thing we can do is laugh, at ourselves and the fact that sometimes, we are just not perfect.

We hold ourselves, and often by extension others, to such high standards sometimes that the world can lose its fun, its sense of joy.

When that happens, the days of work become so dreary, our stress levels rise, we forget to be kind and more importantly, we forget to be patient.

Most of us, I know, are doing the best we can with what we have, where we are, and that’s no small accomplishment. And we hope that if we do make an unintentional mistake, others will be understanding, will accept that it was genuine and will, if we can get there, laugh with us.

On a first date many, many, many years ago (yes I’m that old), I knocked my cup of iced tea over. For a split second, I wanted to crawl under the table. I could feel the tears of embarrassment forming. But the fellow I was with saved the day by saying “Well thank God you did that and saved me — I always do something silly so you’ve let me off the hook.” And he smiled, and though I was still stung by my clumsiness, it kept the moment from being a horrible memory.

We’ve all had those moments where, depending on how others react, we want to disappear, or we can shrug it off.

Not that I think we should laugh if it would hurt or make the embarrassment worse, but I trust that we know the difference.

We are coming into the Christmas season, and I know that we all can put pressure on ourselves to have a perfect holiday, buy all the right gifts, attend the best parties, get the whole month of December just right.

But it shouldn’t be such a stress. And if two people buy you the same gift, it’s OK to laugh about it. Not to mention it’s wonderful that two people who love you enough to buy a gift know you well enough to get it right twice.

And the medical field has long told us laughter burns a load of calories, so laughter can give you room for a bit more indulgence.

Therapists say that when you smile, even if it starts out as forced, it’s hard to remain unhappy.

And laughing at ourselves is one of the best lessons in humility and self awareness.

Besides, it makes you an absolute pleasure to be around.

May your December be filled, then, with lots of smiles, laughter and joy.

Elisabeth Strillacci is former editor of the Salisbury Post.