What if YOU hosted Saturday Night Live?

If you’ve followed Saturday Night Live for any number of years, you know that they rely on popular, funny, returning guest hosts and the anticipation that these hosts bring. Last weekend saw former regular Tracy Morgan return to the show. He was a regular cast member from (1996-2003) and a recent, nearly fatal accident and subsequent recovery made his return all the more poignant.
I am a big advocate for the idea that each of us is the protagonist, or hero, in our own story. But is it equally true that each of us is the host of our own variety show that goes on every day, 24/7, with golden opportunities not just for humor but also for poignancy, triumph, pain and learning. Perhaps, on Saturday night (or once a week in my office, if you’re my client) we might take a look at the key events from the previous week, much like SNL, and ask ourselves: what was important last week and what might we learn from what happened?
Such a metaphor brings with it an opportunity to examine our own lives. SNL often explores current themes such as politics and scandals du jour. If your week was covered on Saturday Night Live, what would be the key events that would be parodied? Keep in mind, I’m not suggesting that your life is all fun and games, even though finding humor can be a key coping skill. Obviously we all have tragedies and struggles in our life, and oftentimes there is nothing funny about what we are going through, especially if the events have brought us to psychotherapy. So, for the purposes of this exercise, choose one, two, or three key events from the past week and ask yourself the following questions about each event you have chosen:

• Consider the event that inspires the “skit”:
  1. Why did you choose this particular event?
  2. What was the most important element of the experience?

• If you consider the event a success:
  1. What made this a success?
  2. What skills did you apply?
  3. How could you apply these skills to a similar challenge, should one occur?

• Consider the other characters in your “skit”:
  1. What did these characters contribute to your success?
  2. Did you rely on someone for this success?
  3. What would that person say was your contribution to the success?
  4. If someone initially stood in the way of success, how did you keep this person from derailing you? If you wish you had dealt with this nemesis differently, how will you react differently next time?
  5. What can you learn from your reaction or behavior that you can apply to future encounters with this person?

• Who is the musical guest on your episode of Saturday Night Live? I believe music can influence or reflect our mood, and it is an interesting point to consider.

I think it is very important when considering these matters that we not dwell on the past, especially if our skit reflects an event that invokes mixed feelings. After all, this is Saturday Night Live, which means it’s late on a Saturday and we will be waking up on Sunday morning to a new week and new possibilities. But examining last week’s events for successfully used skills may help the upcoming week bring more triumphs.
 
Mike McMahan, LPC is a psychotherapist in private practice in San Antonio, Texas.