Absurdly good results

I would like a trophy please.

Actually no, make that a number of trophies please for... cue drumroll

1) Surviving Fantasy Trucker League.?I drove down the M4 in torrential rain on Monday and the ONLY logical explanation for why the articulated lorries persistently drove 2 inches away from me is that they are in some fantasy trucker league called 'Karen-squisher'. I'm guessing you get 100 bonus points for getting close enough to my car to be able read the barcode on the sandwich on my passenger seat.

2) Figuring out the paying system in a dark multi storey car park at 10pm.?Does 'insert card here' mean bank card? a parking ticket? or perhaps you need to buy a birthday card from a local independent retailer and wave it in front of a sensor???

3) Remembering to take the banana out of the car?(having taken it on a 240 mile road trip without eating it obvs). I usually leave bananas in the footwell where they instantly go into SAS undercover mode - ie turn black and no one spots them until they have fully infiltrated passengers' shoes and socks.

But even with these astounding wins, I can't compete with the glorious achievements celebrated by the 'Ig Nobel Awards' (out last week). These go to serious academic papers which “first make people laugh, and then make them think”. The stand out winner this year was research showing how mammals?can breathe out of their bums!!?!

Funny? Yup.

Useful? Absolutely - it's opened up new ideas for supporting hospital patients with respiratory failure.

The Ig Nobels compare sharpy with 'achievements' which get celebrated by society and which, on reflection, we should take a little bit less seriously. A couple of posts on LinkedIn have made me smile by doing exactly that this week:

1. Giles Male has gone viral with his 'humble' celebration of achieving Microsoft's coveted 'MVP' award
2. Juliet Schalker suggested we create a bingo card for the 'surprised and honoured' posts we're going to see during Legal Awards season.?

A much-needed reminder that achievements on the hamster wheel are both utterly brilliant AND ALSO should be taken lightly.

So this week, I? will take a deep breath*, resolve to celebrate the genuine achievements - even if the world is laughing-? and laugh at the 'serious achievements' when I find myself taking things?too?earnestly. How about you?

(*out of my bum, quite possibly)

This is a snippet from my weekly (ish!) 'Laugh, Learn, Leg Up' emails.?

If you sign up you'll get the full version, featuring life-affirmingly daft jokes, pointers to serious brain food and access to free group coaching. Sign up?here