JUNE: Humor, Hutzpah, and Hope
“To succeed in life, you need three bones:
a wishbone, a backbone, and a funny bone.”
—Reba McEntire
These three bones offer a fun little framework, simple enough to remember. Call them the three supports you rely on:
Backbone for strength and hutzpah.
Wishbone for aspirations and hopes.
Funny bone for humor and levity.
Backbone.
The backbone is the resolve that shows up on the days when the stakes are high or the path is muddy. It is the quiet steel running through you that is shaped by your values. Hutzpah is strengthened by overcoming the trials you didn’t ask for, and revealed when you stand tall despite judgment or disapproval.
Share a situation when you stood firm, even though it might have been easier to fold.
Does anyone in your life think of you as a softie? How do you feel about that?
Recall the last time you surprised yourself with your Hutzpah. What shifted?
Wishbone.
The wishbone is the part of you that remembers what you hope for, and dares to imagine more. Without a wishbone, life becomes maintenance rather than adventure. With the strength of your hope, you crack open the doors of positive potential—even if only a little at a time.
What are two or three wishes or hopes at the top of your dream list or bucket list?
Think of a dream that still feels out of reach. What limits your access to it?
In this season of your life, are you more or less open to new possibilities?
Who in your life has modeled the skills of pursuing their dreams?
Funnybone.
Your funnybone is your remedy for heavy days. This is the part of you that can find the chuckle in the middle of chaos. It makes you easier to love, easier to talk to, easier to forgive. It’s also a pressure-release valve that keeps you from turning into stone…or molten lava.
What past mistake can you now laugh about, though at the time you considered fleeing the country?
What types of things do you find funny that make you laugh?
Does your group have any inside jokes?