How powerful is a joke?

most of the time, our communication with the closest people around us is relaxed and pleasant, and most of the time it is conducted in a joking tone. But sometimes, we may tell some truth in a joke, which touches the softest place in each other's heart, although it is casual.

I still remember once saying something that surprised my girlfriend when I was playing with her. We are playing catch together, and everyone is running and dodging with all his strength. In this lively atmosphere, I jokingly said, "You run too slowly. Let me catch you!" In fact, it was just an unintentional remark, but I didn't expect it to cause her mood swings.

Her expression suddenly became a little serious. Then, her slightly trembling voice came to my ear: "I know I run slowly, and I know my health is not as good as yours. What's wrong with me?" I was very surprised and at a loss, because I didn't think my joke would cause such a reaction.

afterwards, I realized that my girlfriend has always been very concerned about her body shape and health. She has been trying to exercise and control her diet, but she has never been able to reach her ideal state. I said this sentence, although it was a joke, but it touched a very soft place in her heart, squeezing the uneasiness that she had been hiding in her heart, which made her unbearable.

obviously, this is an unexpected consequence. I reflected on this for a long time, because I deeply realized the power of joking. In the past, I believed in using jokes to ease the tense atmosphere, but laughing and slapping too casually without thinking is likely to make the person you care about most feel uncomfortable and offended.

Therefore, this experience tells us that we should not erase the feelings of the closest people just by talking to them. Whether joking or not, we may need to think more about whether it will really have no adverse effects before taking action. Such a trivial matter is not worth mentioning, but it shows that we need to pay attention to the details of communication with others, so that we can establish good interpersonal relationships without hurting others.

No matter who we are with, we should speak carefully, choose our own words, pay more attention to each other's thoughts, and minimize things that cause misunderstanding, such as jokes, instead of really hurting those closest to us at their most vulnerable moments.