I’m back….!! And in English…!! But, I ask, do you care? Do you actually read this column or just flick on by to the more serious, educational, informative, erudite articles? Be honest….you know you can’t lie to yourself. Perhaps “lie” is not the right word; rather harsh and definitive – but, you did or you did not.
Maybe “don’t fool yourself” is a better description…

I’m back….!! But then I never really went away. I simply passed through a process of osmosis, I warped into Spanish and then I reappeared in English so as to satisfy demand. Yes, by popular acclaim I have re-emerged as a better, profoundly moved but deeply witty columnist.
Well, at least that is what I would like to believe…

Why is this column relevant? It is relevant, I believe, because as a Chamber of Commerce we deal in serious matters and we want to make a difference BUT, at the same time, we simply cannot take life too seriously – even when dealing in serious matters.

What is the very best joke of all? Very simple. It is that moment every morning when you get out of bed and take that first look in the mirror; and this applies to all males and females. Unless for some reason you are a side branch of Homo Sapiens, when are you most definitely at your worst and most vulnerable? When you crawl out of bed and with eyes half open, half shut, and very cautiously make it to the bathroom and take that first look at the horror in the mirror; a horror that possibly went to bed feeling really quite important and looking pretty nifty. Well, what you see at 6:45 a.m., or whenever you reach the mirror, is THE TRUTH. That is who you are and boy (or girl) you should be weeping with laughter at the very sight before your eyes. You don’t believe me? Try it tomorrow morning…

All of us tend to take ourselves rather too seriously. There are of course exceptions but, generally, these are people who make (or try to make) a living from being funny. I can assure you, loyal reader, this is not my case!

“Laugh, and the whole world laughs with you. Weep, and you weep alone”.
(Ella Wheeler Wilcox)

There is a very grave danger to taking ourselves too seriously. “Therein lies the rub” – a saying from the time of Shakespeare and meaning “that’s the problem”. It is all too easy to laugh at the idiosyncrasies of another, but to laugh (hopefully hilariously) at one’s own foibles, ticks, fumbles, mumbles and downright ridiculous behavior is never easy but, oh so necessary.

Yes, I laugh at the mirror in the morning and I laugh at all the quite extraordinary things I manage to do every 24 hours. It is not that I find myself “funny”, no - God forbid; but I do find it remarkably satisfying to know that I can laugh at myself, at what I do and at who I am.

“I don’t want to belong to a club that will accept people like me as a member” – Groucho Marx.

If you take yourself too seriously you will expect others to take you seriously as well. If that is what you want then fine, go for it, but you will miss out on years of free happiness.

I really should know. I gave up golf for over 12 years because I took myself (and my golf) too seriously. I was pretty bad but believed that I was a “good golfer”. However, playing badly made me an angry, unpleasant golfer. My friends asked me to choose between friendship and golf. I chose friendship. But now I am playing 3 to 4 times a month. I am just as bad but I can laugh at (almost) every stupid mistake I make – and I mean really laugh!

So, I’m back….and planning on sticking around for a while. Send me your thoughts, send me your dreams, send me your mirth (humor) but keep your problems to yourself. How many times a day do you say to someone: “How are you?” But are you really prepared to stick around and hear the real answer…!!

Santiago Eneldo

(Thoughts, dreams and humor to [email protected])