These days, it seems that almost all of us are too serious.My older daughter often says to me, "Daddy, you've got that serious look again." Even those of us who are committed to non-seriousness are probably too serious.People are frustrated and anxious about almost everything -- being five minutes late, witnessing someone look at us wrong or say the wrong thing, paying bills, waiting in line, overcooking a meal, making an honest mistake -- you name it, and we all lose perspective  over it. The root of being anxious is our unwillingness to accept life as being different, in any way, from our expectation.Very simply, we want things to be a certain way but they're not a certain way.Life is simply as it is.Perhaps Benjamin Franklin said it best: "Our limited perspective, our hopes and fears become our measure of life, and when circumstances don't fit our ideas, they become our difficulties." We spend our lives wanting things, people, and events to be just as we want them to be -- and when they're not, we fight and we suffer. The first step in recovering from over-seriousness is to admit that you have a problem.You have to want to change, to become more easygoing.You have to see that your own anxiety is largely of your own creation -- it's made up of the way you have set up your life and the way you react to it. The next step is to understand the link between your expectations and your frustration level.Whenever you expect something to be a certain way and it isn't, you're upset and you suffer.On the other hand, when you let go of your expectations, when you accept life as it is, you're free. A good exercise is to try to approach a single day without expectation.Don't expect people to be friendly.When they're not, you won't be surprised or bothered; if they are, you'll be delighted.Don't expect your day to be problem-free.Instead, as problems come up, say to yourself,  "Ah, another barrier to overcome." As you approach your day in this manner you'll notice how elegant life can be.Rather than fighting against life, you'll be dancing with it.Pretty soon, with practice, you'll lighten up your entire life.And when you lighten up, life is a lot more fun. According to Benjamin Franklin, what was the cause of over-seriousness?
The fact that people's perspective, hopes and fears are limited. The fact that people can't change life itself. The fact that things fail to meet people's expectations. The fact that circumstances turn out to be difficult.