I recently read through the book, Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff–and it’s all small stuff, by Richard Carlson, PH.D. My husband has had this book for years, and I finally decided to pick it up and look through it. Wow, it’s a great reminder to just “shake things off”. As most of you know, it’s only human nature to dwell on the negative. However, it’s important to step away from certain situations and remind yourself that really, it’s “small stuff,” which is not worth your time nor your energy; thus, don’t sweat it!
Here are some of my favorite tips from the book; they will help you move past the “small stuff:”
- Make Peace with Imperfection: “Rather than being content and grateful for what we have, we are focused on what’s wrong with something and our need to fix it.” Forget about perfection…focus on happiness and all will be perfect.
- Develop Compassion: “Compassion involves the willingness to put yourself in someone else’s shoes, to take the focus off yourself and to imagine what it’s like to be in someone else’s predicament.” Compassion allows you to open your heart to others, which also helps you develop a sense of gratitude.
- Do Something Nice for Someone Else- and Don’t Tell Anyone About It: “It’s really true that one should give for the sake of giving, not to receive something in return.” This helps you embrace the wonderful feeling of engaging in an act of kindness, rather than seeking feelings of acknowledgment/praise from someone else.
- Learn to Live in the Present Moment: “When our attention is in the present moment, we push fear out of our minds.” By focusing on the present, you will enjoy life now rather than dwelling on what life was in the past or what it might be in the future.
- Resist the Urge to Criticize: “When we judge or criticize another person, it says nothing about that person; it merely says something about our own need to be critical.” Criticism does not achieve anything. Criticism intensifies angry emotions and feelings and only makes situations more difficult in the end.
- Become a Better Listener: “Effective listening is being content to listen to the entire thought of someone rather than waiting impatiently for your chance to respond.” By becoming a better listener, you can peacefully listen without competing for “airtime.” Additionally, you will learn a wealth of knowledge just by listening to someone.
- Nurture a Plant: “A plant is easy to love just the way it is. Therefore, nurturing a plant offers us an excellent opportunity to practice unconditional love.” It also brings you closer to nature and helps you appreciate all that Earth provides us, including big and tiny miracles of life.
- Be Flexible with Changes in Your Plans: “Inflexibility creates an enormous amount of inner stress and is often irritating and insensitive to other people.” Life can be very unpredictable, so it is important to be flexible. Many times unexpected surprises can be the best types of surprises!
These simple tips are great reminders to be conscious of what you have in life and what is going well, rather than focusing on what you don’t have or what is not going well in life. Embrace the “good” little things in life, not the “bad”…
What are some of your favorite tips that help you look beyond the “bad” little things in life?