My wife once said to me: Seriously... stop taking yourself so seriously.
The way I see it though... you need to take some things seriously...
Ah... that's the rub, yes?
SOME THINGS
What do we take seriously and what do we not?
I'm surrounded by energies right how of people taking themselves too seriously. People afraid to offend. People afraid to laugh and relax. People too tight in the bud... They stink of fear. Everything is all structure, like we entered a military academy.
I take life very seriously... except when I don't. Here is a quote I love from Tom Robbins:
“I believe in everything; nothing is sacred. I believe in nothing; everything is sacred.
I want to grow up... I want to shed my layers of falseness and love fully... I take that seriously. Hence, I don't take MYSELF seriously. My SELF is the least thing to EVER take seriously. What I take seriously is opening, loving, laughing, serving, doing.
Is this useful information to you? I discovered this in my life, just by living it. Taking things seriously is important... but taking the fear based little grubby ego too seriously is disgusting.
And it's useful to me because when I'm in that state... I can't see that I'm being too serious. I think I'm being serious in the right way, the way that gets things done. Oorah!
This navigation point between serious and too serious is not easy to find. There are no quick ways to achieve this balance. You have to get to a point of depth, openness, reflection, with proper feedback from your environment.
There is a skill here... part science... part art....
The one thing I can offer you right now, in this moment, is that this balanced energy comes from the lower gut, that's where you will feel it in your body... (not the solar plexus, below that) and there will be a wry grin on your lips, barely there, when you feel it.
As always, I would love to hear from people who are on the path to seriously... not taking themselves too seriously....