I was with my parent yesterday – enjoying their company in their home. One minute everything was peaceful and then my father launched his missiles at me:
- You have disowned our religion;
- You failed to marry within our own and according to our customs;
- You have wasted your money and not amassed riches;
- You have failed to use your intelligence, your promise, and convert this into status for you, me, us;
- Most of all we had such high hopes for you and you have abandoned us in our old age.
Ordinarily I’d get upset and walk out and go for a walk. Occasionally, I have launched my own missiles back at him. This time for some strange reason I just laughed. It started with a small laugh and I enjoyed that so much that I laughed more. And then more and more until my stomach was hurting from the laughter.
Then the most amazing thing happened: my father started laughing. And so there we were the two of us laughing together.
What was the source of my first laugh?
At some level I got that this was my father simply being my father rather like a rhinoceros being rhinoceros. And when I got this I started to laugh at my own stupidity: look I was about to get upset with my father for being himself, how foolish.
So simple and, yet, so effective. Thank you for sharing.
LikeLike