One of my relatives quite famously said:

"Anyone who loses a sale and then laughs, is an idiot!”

That same relative headed off to have a few heart attacks, had to change his lifestyle dramatically, and has been seen crawling along in slow-mo, ever since.

He was never, genuinely able to laugh, not in a big way.

He'd respond dully to something humorous with the words, "Yeah, that's pretty funny,” but there was no release in that, emotionally. Pent up inside was all of this tension, the residue of many disappointments that he never purged along the way.

There have been lots of philosophers and scientists who have tried to isolate that one thing that seems to make human beings special, if not unique.

Some, like anthropologist Robert Ardrey, insist it is our "opposable thumbs” that have made us uniquely capable of putting hammers to nails, and building civilizations.

Others claim it is our ability to speak as we do, sharing abstract ideas.

But a useful view is that the fundamental thing that makes us human is our ability to lose, and then to laugh.

You don't see gorilla males, who have just bashed each other for the attention of a female, going off by themselves, after coming in second place, doing Woody Allen style comedy about their loss.

Go to comedy clubs, listen to Chris Rock or Jon Stewart, or to whoever breaks you up.

Or, better yet, develop the ability to see what's funny about any disappointment, and then appreciate it.

It will put you in the right mood to make your next conquest, in selling, or otherwise.

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