I have been very open about my journey of self discovery. And the steps I am taking to reduce stress, be at peace, and fuel my inner joy. Part of this journey is educating myself. There are lots of theories out there about how to find peace and happiness. All have worked for somebody at some point. Looking at these theories, lets me see what might or might not work for me.
Currently I am reading Don't Sweat the Small Stuff and It's All Small Stuff. It was written by Dr. Richard Carlson back in 1997. This is supposed to be the ultimate book in learning how to not be stressed. It is taking me forever to get through it. Not because it is a hard read. Quite the contrary, it's too easy. It's 100 chapters but each chapter is only a page and a half to two pages long. It tells you what to do but not how to do it. It's like a little book of mantras that have a synopsis for each one. I am just not engaged with the book.
Now I am a reader, a compulsive reader at times, so not being engaged in a book is a new experience for me. I am also the type of person who needs to finish a book before starting another one. So I decided to start all over and write about each chapter. I can find ways to implement the topics or describe experiences I've had that relate to them. Hopefully that will help me finish it and let my silly brain move onto something else.
Chapter 1 - Don't Sweat the Small Stuff. - He says we often let ourselves get worked up over insignificant things. Instead of letting things go, we convince ourselves we are justified in our anger and plan out revenge scenarios in our mind. Things like being cut off by a driver, instead of just letting it go we swear or gesture. Instead we should just let them go have their eventual accident someplace else and get on with our life.
I admit I have done this. I am trying to get better about it. I have a friend that would handle being cut off by assuming they were rushing to the hospital with a wife in labor, or there was a family emergency and they were needed at home. By giving the perpetrator a valid reason for their actions, she was able to just let it go.
Waiting in line can get frustrating, especially when people are not being kind to others. I was waiting in line at the pharmacy and started to get a little frustrated with the woman in front of me, or I should say the cart and kids in line in front of me. The woman was wandering all around looking at or for stuff. Leaving her kids unattended in line. The man behind me was rather critical of the whole situation. At first I was annoyed too, but then I looked at the 4 kids between the ages of 8 and 2. I realized that she was trying to be as efficient as possible in her shopping, after all how long the kids were going to tolerate the boredom was anyone's guess. The kids were well behaved and the littlest one was smiles and cuteness. As we moved closer to the counter, I suggested the older one tell their mom that it was almost their turn. He called her on his phone and she was there before it was her turn. She thanked me for suggesting he let her know. I was lucky that I rarely had to take all my kids with me shopping and usually when I did, my husband was with us. This was a single mother who was recently widowed. I found this out from her friend who just happened to be shopping too. No wonder she was trying to get things done instead of just waiting there.
We need to learn to not let the small inconveniences of life get to us. Is it easier said than done? Sometimes. But that is when we need to work on ourselves and not worry about others.
Tomorrow Chapter 2 - Making Peace with Imperfection
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