Laughter as a coping mechanism

Many people find themselves feeling embarrassed when they look back on mistakes they've made, even in childhood.Although social missteps and well-intentioned mistakes are virtually unavoidable over the course of one's lifetime,many of us beat ourselves up over the embarrassing things we've done in the past.This can be a significant source of stress, particularly for those who experience some level of anxiety, particularly social anxiety. Many people have found comfort with the simple idea that someday they'll look back on this and laugh.

Finding a group of friends or even just one good friend, who can share the burden of embarrassment by sharing a good laugh, can be transformative. Learning the skill of being able to look at memories this way can enable us to be more forgiving with ourselves and others. It can even enable us to react less with embarrassment and more with good humor to mistakes we make in the present.

Laughing at what stresses or embarrasses us is an inborn ability for some, but can be a learned skill for others. If you'd like to expand your ability to do this, a lot of tips can help you. For instance,it can be a wonderful stress relief to read humorous books about other people's lives, and this can provide great practice with self-acceptance as well. Also it helps to watch funny movies and shows or read funny books somewhat regularly. This helps you to keep a light-hearted frame of mind.

In addition, when you feel stressed, you can find a friend who helps you to find the humor in stressful situations. And sometimes you may have a hard time finding the humor in your situation, but you can laugh at other things—this is great, too! Shift your focus to something else that might make you laugh or smile and come back to your challenge with a more relaxed attitude.

阅读检测

1. How can we benefit from laughing about our embarrassing memories?

A. We'll become more mature.

B. We'll think more positively.

C. We'll be mentally stronger.

D. We'll become more tolerant.

2. What does the underlined word “this” in paragraph 3 refer to?

A. Improving your inborn ability.

B. Learning a skill valuable for life.

C. Laughing at stressful situations.

D. Keeping relaxed in hard situation.

3. What is advised in the text in order to feel less pressured?

A. Accept the reality. B. Find social support.

C. Write a funny story. D. Focus on our situation.

语言学习

难句分析

Although social missteps and well-intentioned mistakes are virtually unavoidable over the course of one's lifetime, many of us beat ourselves up over the embarrassing things we've done in the past. 虽然社交失误和善意的错误在一个人的一生中几乎是不可避免的， 但我们中的许多人会因为过去做过令人尴尬的事情而自责不已。

该句为主从复合句，句中Although引导让步状语从句，主句中we've done in the past为定语从句修饰the embarrassing things。