Some of you, depending on where you are in the world, may not be able to relate to the story I am about to tell.
We have had a lot of snow this winter. This morning yet more was waiting for me to clear it from my driveway before I headed out for the day. Having shovelled twice already over the weekend, I was a little put off by this but not too much I had expected there would be snow this morning and I was ready to deal with it.
What I wasn’t prepared for was the wind. The snow itself was fine, but the wind had blown it into great drifts on part of my driveway and as opposed to being only a few inches all over it was nearly three feet in spots.
Add in the stinging wind itself blowing what I shovelled back into my face as I dug into these drifts and by the time I was done I was quite frustrated with winter.
Now for those of you who can’t relate to this (can I come visit?), well the point I’m trying to make is this: often our negative moods, anger, frustration, etc, are not caused by just one thing. Often it is a bunch of little things (and perhaps some big things) which come together and then we just reach a point where we can’t laugh it off any more and we get upset.
But because these little things are…little we don’t notice them individually. But they build up over time and eventually get to us, making us angry or frustrated at some final little thing, our negative emotions far exceeding the scope of the actual trigger event.
So what does this all mean?
Well we can use this information in two ways.
First, deal with little things as they come up. Simply don’t let them build. If some little thing irks you, stop, think about it, deal with it, get the anger and frustration out, and move on. Sometimes this is not possible in the moment the thing happens, but try to get that little bit of negativity out of you as soon as possible, don’t let it fester. The last thing you want is to be thinking about it later. This will prevent those little things from building up and causing you to snap.
Second, we can use this whole “little thing” idea to our advantage as well. Enjoy all the GOOD little things which happen to you. Let them build up and make you feel better and better. The more you focus on the positive and savor those little things as they happen, the more resistance you’ll have to negative events, large and small, which befall you.
So remember as you go about your daily lives, look for all the positive little things and deal with all the negative little things as they come up. If you can master his, happiness is yours to claim.