Roger had never thought about his age in relation to his position during his eight years at the company. Everything was fine until a wave of new hirings and promotions came through his division. He noticed for the first time that he was beginning to be the senior member of the organization, not only in his length of time at the company, but also in his age. This was unsettling. Roger noticed there was a certain youthful enthusiasm in the new hires, and suddenly it occurred to him that he had gradually lost that quality over the past eight years.

We could all use more humor in our lives. Having a sense of humor doesn’t mean laughing and being cheerful all the time. It means seeing the illusory nature of things — and seeing how, in this illusory life, we are always bumping into the very things we meticulously try to avoid.