Small but not Invisible
There are a lot of small things in our world. If we were the size of Gulliver in Lilliput, everything would seem too small. It would be so easy not to notice little things. But since I am of average height, there are a lot of noticeable things in my life. I am close to them also so they get my attention. If you look around the room you are seated in, try and count how many little things you see. It’s the game of I Spy in real life.
Dismiss the small stuff
There are many books that tell us to ignore the small stuff and that can be good advice at times if it’s a choice. But if you overlook the small things in your life that are out of place, they tend to multiply to get more attention. If something is out of its proper place, it gets attention the first time it is noticed. But it may get ignored after that. Sometimes there isn’t time to replace the item and sometimes we don’t want to use our own energy to put something back into its right place if we didn’t originally move it. We expect whomever moved it to put it back. Clothes on the floor, backpacks in the wrong place, shoes not replaced in a closet and dirty dishes not placed into the dishwasher all belong to the last person who touched them. We walk past them but they still bother us. Until we reach our personal limit.
Easy to Please
We don’t always want to bring attention to the out of place things in our life because they make us feel like we are hard to please. We like to think of ourselves as easy going and don’t want to make everything into a nagging debate. Eventually we might put these items away because we are sick of looking at them. But a residual feeling-after remains. We feel as if we are being used or someone else acts as if they deserve more because we clean up after them or we cannot determine why it doesn’t seem to bother them as much as it grates on us. Those small things are tricky. We may think there is something wrong with everyone else’s thought process because it doesn’t match ours.
Deal with It
If your idea on dealing with the small stuff doesn’t match others, it is time to chat about it. That doesn’t mean that your thoughts need to match. But it does mean that you don’t have to attach the wrong feelings to why you end up dealing with small stuff before someone else does. It may help you to understand the obstacles they feel or even if they are feeling anything in the first place. Your thought needs to adapt to finding out why your brain needs to be satisfied. If you can deal with it and get your own satisfaction, stop right there. You are not required to attach any more feelings to those small things in your life. Or you could make a game of it and see how long you can go before you get to the point of dissatisfaction and examine yourself. That’s not small stuff.
If you look around yourself, what physical stuff is getting your attention? Can you find your own way not to be bothered by small things? Can you deal with small stuff and feel good about it?
