Laugh and the world laughs at....no I mean WITH you!

Joy.

Laughter.

Peace.

If these aren't the goals of transitioning then...well, I don't know what.

I didn't transition to be unhappy. To scowl. To tie my insides up in knots.

So why do we do it during transition.

A Sense of Humor is Critical!

Laugh.

Come on, some of it is funny. I look back on the foibles of my early transition and I HAVE to laugh. There are some pretty funny spots on the way.

Yes, horrific things happen. Yes, life at times can suck. But not ALL of it, right?

A few weeks before I told everyone at work, someone told a story. Someone at their previous job had transitioned. The person was well liked and kept their job afterward. So, her name prior to transition was 'Fred' and after 'Heather'. So they came up with the nickname 'Feather'.

Okay, some may see it as cruel. But it could be worse. When you get nicknames it means that you are still part of the group. You still have a place in the social order.

Anyway, when I told these folks a few weeks later...well it went like this.

They knew something was up. The two basic theories were:

I was quitting.
I had a terminal illness.

This was with the core group, I hadn't made the official announcement yet. So, to ensure privacy we all sat in the car of the person with the 'Feather' story.

"Okay [old name], what's up?" He asked. I gathered my courage and said one word.

"Feather."

That pretty much got the point across. Of course conversation followed but including a little humor helped.

Okay, two weeks later, and I am going to tell the rest of the building. I had everyone gathered in the conference room. Everyone knew something was up. The two theories from above were still the best bets. HR was sitting beside me (cautioned to keep her mouth shut - another story later),

"Hi everyone."

They were all a little quiet.

"I bet you're all wondering why I asked you all here."

Still quiet.

"Well, I wanted to talk to you all about a wonderful opportunity in multi-level marketing....."

Thank god they laughed. I launched into my story. They actually applauded.

The point is....laugh a little. It's a stressful situation for everyone, diffuse it a little.

Talk. Laugh. Have fun.