Don't Sweat the Small Stuff ... and it's all small stuff: Simple Ways to Keep the Little Things from Taking Over Your Life

by Richard Carlson

when you learn the habit of responding to life with more ease, problems that seemed “insurmountable” will begin to seem more manageable.

The next time someone tells you a story or shares an accomplishment with you, notice your tendency to say something about yourself in response.

Your job is to try to determine what the people in your life are trying to teach you. You’ll find that if you do this, you’ll be far less annoyed, bothered, and frustrated by the actions and imperfections of other people.

Although most people believe otherwise, the truth is, life isn’t an emergency.

The first step in becoming a more peaceful person is to have the humility to admit that, in most cases, you’re creating your own emergencies.

It’s helpful to keep reminding yourself and repeating the sentence, “Life isn’t an emergency.”

Essentially, “seek first to understand” implies that you become more interested in understanding others and less in having other people understand you.

Underneath even the most annoying behavior is a frustrated person who is crying out for compassion.

One of the cardinal rules of joyful living is that judging others takes a great deal of energy and, without exception, pulls you away from where you want to be.

When our life is filled with the desire to see the holiness in everyday things, something magical begins to happen.

Many people live as if life were a melodrama—”an extravagantly theatrical play in which action and plot predominate.” Sound familiar? In dramatic fashion, we blow things out of proportion, and make a big deal out of little things.

I’ve found that simply reminding myself that life doesn’t have to be a soap opera is a powerful method of calming down.

When I get too worked up or start taking myself too seriously (which happens more than I like to admit), I say to myself something like, “Here I go again. My soap opera is starting.” Almost always, this takes the edge off my seriousness and helps me laugh at myself.