A friend once said to me, “I ask myself, are babies dying? And if the answer is no, then I don’t stress about it.”
Keep things in perspective.
We have all heard, “don’t sweat the small stuff” and “it’s not worth worrying about” but when you really think about it, like really really think about it, it’s true.
I challenge you to test yourself today.
When you start to get frustrated or worked up or stressed about something, take a moment to ask yourself;
Is there anything you can do about it?
What are the consequences?
Will it matter tomorrow or even later today?
Is it really a big deal?
- image from arstechnica.com
Example 1: Someone is driving slow in front of you on an impassable road. You start getting heated up. Ask yourself;
- Is there anything you can do about it?
- “I can swerve around behind them, ride up on their bumper, shine my headlights in their back window, and let them know they are slowing me down.”
- Ok, does that fix the situation? “no”
- What are the consequences?
- “My arrival might be 1 or 2 minutes later than if this slow poke were not here.”
- And are you in such a rush that 1-2 minutes will make a difference. “Not really.”
- Will it matter tomorrow or even later today?
- “Not really, I probably won’t even remember it.”
- So is it really a big deal then?
- “Not really”
So in this situation, what’s the point in driving like a lunatic and yelling at other cars? There is nothing you can do about it anyway, so why get upset?
photo from rebelyogi.com
Example 2: You drop a raw egg on the floor and it breaks and oozes egg liquid onto your clean floor.
- Is there anything you can do about it?
- “yep, I can clean it up” Ok easy, do it.
- What are the consequences?
- “it takes me a 2 minutes to clean up the egg, costs me 1 paper towel and one egg.”
- Can you afford to spend 2 minutes, an egg and a paper towel on an accident? “yeah”
- Will it matter tomorrow or even later today?
- “Not really, I probably won’t even remember it.”
- Is it really a big deal then?
- “Not really”
In this situation, you had an accident, which is just that, an accident. It wasn’t something you did on purpose. You can’t go back in time and undo it, it already happened. You can clean it up and its like it never happened. You didn’t mean to smash an egg, but you can clean it up and move on. No need to stress about it.
photo from best-wine-club.com
Example 3: A family member barrows a shirt from you and gets a stain on it.
- Is there anything you can do about it?
- “not really, what’s done is done”.
- What are the consequences
- “my shirt is now condemned to be a pajama shirt now.”
- Will it matter tomorrow or even later today?
- “Not really, I probably won’t even remember it.”
- So is it really a big deal then?
- “Not really”
In this situation, your family member probably didn’t intentionally mess up your shirt , it was an accident, and they probably already feel bad about it. You can’t go back in time and undo it, it already happened. And really, no one was hurt, it was just a shirt. Stressing about it, and being angry will not fix the problem. So let it go.
I challenge you to do this for one day. When you start to get worked up, stop and think it through. Is there anything you can do about it? What are the consequences? Will it mater tomorrow? So in the end, is it really a big deal?
All Things Krista 