Don't Sweat the Small Stuff

They say that you shouldn't sweat the small stuff and you should live life as though the small stuff doesn't truly impact you. That just had to be written by someone without a lot of small stuff because people who are caregivers of someone with an illness do, indeed, sweat the small stuff.

For example, yesterday Greg and I went to work out and Greg cut his workout short. He said he was tired. Can you guess what happened next? Yep! I started to sweat the small stuff. My mind raced. Why was his tired? Was he feeling okay? Did he have the beginnings of a cold? I could go on and on about how my mind wandered but, the point is that it was needless and a poor use of my energy. As it turns out, Greg was normal. He was tired because he had a long day at work and was longing for his comfy clothes, the couch, and the remote control. That was it - plain and simple.

I will agree that this little bit of "small stuff" didn't need any sweating over but when it is also what has kept Greg alive for so long. It would have taken only 24 hours for a bug to kill him, had I not gotten him to the hospital for a pain in his back in 2002. Ever since then, I have learned to sweat the small stuff but to do so in moderation. No, we can't go crazy and think the sky is falling whenever something out of the ordinary happens but we can make a mental record of it and watch it a little more closely than usual. This innate ability makes us aware of our surrounding and throws up red flags when something could turn into a potential nightmare.

That is not to say that we should go around sweating every little thing that happens. We need to also appreciate the positive small stuff as well. A smile from a beautiful man that once had it hidden under an oxygen tube or being able to give a big and unobstructed hug to a loved one that no longer has machines hooked up to them. It just goes to show that not all small things are bad but, we should remember that it is not through sweat but through intuition and love that we are truly powerful against the negative small stuff that can infer with the smallest of pleasures in our lives. That is especially true for those that realize that we are not guaranteed tomorrow so we must live for today.

~Shan
http://www.angelcove.us