I recently found a book that said “Don’t Sweat the
Small Stuff.” I admit that some of the ideas in the book made perfect sense to
me. One of the chapters mentioned that your in-box was never going to be
completely empty so you should take time to spend with family and friends and
not worry about your in-box. Since I’m retired, you would think that I would no
longer have an in-box, but actually, I do. Surprise, surprise…it’s never empty.
Friday is technically my day to catch up on any
tasks that I haven’t completed during the week, but this week, I decided to
take the don’t sweat attitude and went to lunch with the “Lunch Bunch” group of
former classmates that we plan monthly. After lunch, I met with my sisters for
good conversation and to admire their bargain purchases. When I got home, I was
so tired that I chose a movie and promptly took a nap.
Another suggestion was that when you wake up in
the night and think of something you need to do the next day was to write it
down and go back to sleep. So far, so good, as far as suggestions go. In
reality, I will make a mental note and spend the next day trying to figure out
what I thought of in the middle of the night.
I am better at writing notes during the day. If I
don’t lose the notes, they come in handy. I often make a list when I go to town
so that I don’t get home and think, “snap” I didn’t go by the Post Office, or
pick up my prescription, or whatever was on my mental list rather than my
written one.
I still have a lot more to read in the book, but
although I already see some great suggestions in Don’t Sweat the Small
Stuff, I can think of other times that you have to sweat the small
stuff.
One of the reasons to sweat the small stuff is so
that you don’t get side-lined by the big stuff. I was scheduled to have surgery
when I was much younger, and I thought I needed a new robe and house shoes to
take to the hospital. The robe I found was pink, but I couldn’t find any shoes
to match. Jim was upset with me because I “was worried more about whether my
robe and shoes matched” than I was about the surgery. Actually, the outfit
wasn’t that important, but I was sweating the small stuff to distract myself
from worrying about the surgery. He, on the other hand, was focused on the
surgery.
In many cases, you have to sweat the small stuff
in order to finish a project. When I work on QuickBooks, I can either look at
all the accounts and panic, or I can methodically work on one at a time and
feel that I’m making progress.
As a caregiver, I learned to sweat the small stuff
so that I could make sure that Jim had the best care possible. No task was too
small or insignificant to overlook it. I was willing to do it all so that the
overworked staff did not have to do it.
I could look at him and determine if he needed to
be shaved, bathed, fed, cleaned up, or maybe he needed a hug and some cheerful
conversation. Or I might break him out of the unit and take him for a milkshake
and a walk in the park. Jim got personal attention because I sweated the small
stuff.
One of the aides told me one time that it would be
great if I worked there. “Are you kidding? It takes me more than two hours to
take care of Jim.” Of course, that was on a good night.
Of all the things I may regret, taking care of Jim
wasn’t one of them. I’m not saying it was always easy, or pleasant. If I had a
rough day at work, I took a deep breath and cleared my mind as I entered the
special care unit. I knew that I was stepping into Jim’s world and mentally
leaving my world behind. It was time to sweat the small stuff, enjoy the moment,
and push tomorrow and the big stuff out of my mind.
Copyright
© August 2026 by L. S. Fisher
https://earlyonset.blogspot.com