People often wait for the BIG wins, the overt accomplishments in work, life or in general. We see the success stories and wonder why we fail to reach such status. I have only read a few excerpts of Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff…and it’s all small stuff and Richard Carlson writes of how shifting our thinking can change our viewpoint on life. This idea had been around for a long time.
It’s hard to think of life, accomplishments and happiness residing in the small spaces; after all music is said to be in the moments of the silence between the notes. Others mention that happiness is in the space in between the miseries or mishaps of life that we must endure.
If you pay attention to your surroundings the crumbs of happiness can sustain you. Because once they are added together they can fill your plate with sustenance and even joy. It will be difficult to make this shift in thinking. Likely because we hear messages like “Go big or go home” “There is no second place; only first loser” and other nonsense which keeps us in a mindset that we are not good enough. (By the way we are all good enough.) Once we stop measuring ourselves against the accomplishments of others and keep our eyes on our work we will be able to see that butterflies are beautiful. We will see the love that is given to us each day that we might usually take for granted.
Often we vibrate at such a speed the good things just bounce off. Think of a centrifuge or even a roulette wheel—the spinning repels objects from entering. Sometimes waiting is what needs to be done. Sometimes patience is needed. Because if we are too flurried, too elevated we will miss the opportunity for something that just may be great. We might miss the small stuff that IS important and that CAN sustain us in fallow times or those moments we are down or depressed.
Understand, l I am not speaking of clinical depression. Clinical depression requires outside help. What I am talking about is that a lot of times we concentrate on what is wrong instead of what is right. It is hard and it requires intention to make change. It is okay if it happens slowly; because we all different and we all require a tailored strategy to be the best that we can be.
Ried Rants 