Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff…and it’s all Small Stuff

       The title of my blog is actually the title of a book that I haven't read. However, that won't stop me from analyzing the quote and providing my commentary. The basic premise of the book purportedly is that we all get worked up over stuff that doesn't matter one iota in the grand scheme of things. We amplify and blow things out of proportion for no reason at all. I completely agree that we all do this on some level or another.

       As I've mentioned in a past post, there are a lot of things that can happen that are mostly out of our control no matter what life course we choose. It's impossible to avoid the impact of other people's decision making on our lives even if you were to live and work in mostly solitude. Unforeseeable events happen to everybody! 

      A lot of people even paint the walls with speculation all day long about what other people think of them with or without cause or provocation. Even if others don't think highly of us, does it really matter? They win if we let it affect us.   

       Almost everybody commutes to work and are subjected to other people's inept or careless driving. We get to choose how we react to our endangerment even though we know nothing of the bad driver's intent. It's possible that they are from another country or are merely learning to drive.

        An example in my life is traveling around by taxi as a primary means of transportation. The taxi driver might be dishonest, take you to the wrong location, and/or try to get you to buy his associate's souvenirs on the way to your destination. All of these things are frustrating, but they don't have to have an impact on my day or trip overall. How we react to what happens to us is completely in our control.

          One of the advantages to aging is gaining perspective. As a young teenager, everything in life that went wrong seemed unfair, personal, and life altering. Failing a test, losing a race, getting injured, getting critiqued for something you think you are good at, getting fired from that stellar entry level job at Little Caesar's pizza, or even breaking up seem like genuine life altering hardships. Despite the emotional roller coaster of the teenage years, the majority of what happened back then had zero impact on how my life would evolve 10-20 years later. As you gain maturity, you learn that life moves forward even when things don't go your way.

         The truth is most things that happen in life is small stuff even the seemingly big stuff. There is little reason to get worked up over very insignificant daily events. Most things are small potatoes in the grand scheme of things.

   

         Do things happen that can change your life trajectory and course? Absolutely! Not everything in life is small potatoes. We have to make major life decisions every so often that alters your course dramatically. It's also possible that you make a serious error in judgment and that wreaks havoc on your freedom. I listed a bunch of events that can become game changers for a lot of people last year in this post. To list a few big potato things: 1) being chronically unhealthy, 2) losing someone to death, 3) being in a bad marriage/getting divorced, 4) not being successful at something you try hard to succeed at, or 5) going to jail. There are probably quite a few more I could have listed.

         Many other things I didn't list are temporary valleys of life that are for our greater good. Some adversity may seem like a never ending valley of life, but we eventually pull through and appreciate life at a higher level for enduring the adversity. We won't be able to see our growth until we look at our hardships in the rear view mirror.

         In summary, most stuff in life that we get worked up over is small and not worth wasting emotional energy on. We should try and recognize the small stuff to react accordingly. In contrast, we may run into a few big things that will require emotional energy to endure successfully. Life will be much more enjoyable if we worry only about the big game changer events.