It’s no surprise that medical science has proven a direct correlation between your mental health and your physical health. More often than you may realize, your attitude and outlook can determine how you feel physically. For many years, I’ve heard people say there are two rules to keeping your sanity when raising kids:
- Don’t sweat the small stuff.
- It’s all small stuff
In fact, there’s a book by Richard Carlson that deals specifically with that very topic, and it’s well worth the read, or listen to it via audiobooks programs:
While I can’t say that I agree with that philosophy 100%, it does make a good point. Many of the things that send people into a downward spiral of anger and frustration is just small, inconsequential……STUFF. Here’s a story I heard a long time ago that I’ve always remembered.
There was an elderly fellow who had a reputation for being rather grumpy in his demeanor. If you were to envision him, he had a big, bushy mustache similar to Wilford Brimley. One day while he was napping, his grandkids decided to play a joke and rubbed a tiny amount of Limburger cheese into the hairs of his mustache.
At this point, let me take a brief break and travel down an informational rabbit trail. If you’ve never had the pleasure of experiencing Limburger cheese, let me enlighten you. The cheese has its origin in an area that is now divided among Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands. While it has been called “remarkably smooth,” its greatest claim to fame is its aroma. The bacteria used to ferment the cheese is the IDENTICAL bacteria that causes body odor, more specifically, foot odor. And, yes, it 
smells like the nastiest pair of never-washed, green gunk grown toe jam, eye-watering, paint-peeling, zombie decayed feet you have ever had to hit your nose. THIS is what the kids put into grandpa’s mustache.
When the old gentleman awakes, he takes a sniff and says, “This room stinks.” He walked into the kitchen and declared, “This kitchen stinks.” Wanting to get away from the putrid smell, he decides to go outside for a walk. As he walks down the street, he can’t take it anymore and cries out, “This neighborhood stinks! In fact….THE WHOLE WORLD STINKS!!!”
The entire time, the problem was right under his nose. You see, it all boils down to how we CHOOSE to look at things, big or small. I was delighted today when one of our Claim Operations analysts 
mentioned she was in a poor mood when she arrived at the office, but upon seeing some crayon drawings of “kitties and a turtle” on the back of napkins that was placed on her desk by a visiting 6-year-old, she immediately found her mood shifting to happiness.
Every day you’re alive, you have a path to walk. The path may be straight, or it may have twists and turns. When you come to a fork in the road, take a good long look at what is prompting the direction you choose. Is it a problem that has a solution right under your nose? Is it an opportunity to turn something bad into something good by just appreciating the “small stuff” life gives you? Don’t sweat the small stuff, but don’t let the small stuff pass you by either.
