Don’t Sweat The Small Stuff. Savour It Instead (Day 9 of 30 of the Happiness Challenge)

Whoever said “don’t sweat the small stuff” was on to something...

Little Annoying Things

I’m sure that there have been many days that we have been caught up in the little things that stress us out and too many times we probably have let those things ruin or day.

When we step back and take a bird’s eye view of the situation, is it really worth wasting our energy on insignificant stuff like you didn’t get the best parking spot, or the supermarket didn’t have your favorite brand of soup?

When these little niggles happen during the day, we have the choice on how to deal with them. We can choose not to make a big deal about it and deal with it like the water off a duck’s back by flipping them to find the silver lining…

So you have to park further away from your destination, then you’d like? You get to exercise a little and be out in the fresh air for a little while.

You couldn’t find your favorite soup? It's an opportunity to try something new and you never know you might another flavor that you really, really like.

In many cases, there are two sides to every situation you encounter and we have the capacity to choose how we look at them. Make it a mini goal to look at the bright side and you will see that your levels of happiness will rise.

Look Out For Lovely Little Things

This can be taken a step further by starting to pay attention to all the good stuff all around you. It doesn’t have to be big. Just the little things, to use yet enough cliche in this post “stop and smell the roses”.

This can make a really big difference. I’m serious.

There is so much positivity and happiness to be gained by paying attention to all the good things around you. There are many small things that could a small smile on your face, maybe some the smile will be a little larger. When you make a conscious effort to notice these things, more and more will become visible to you - you open the floodgates.

Make it a habit. Choose to spend some of your downtime this week to savour the small stuff. Stuff like…

• Notice how your cup of coffee smells and how it warms your hands on a cold morning
• Pay attention to the birds and their antics and their chirps
• Appreciate the hug from your little one after school because they missed you during the day

If you have been following along, from the previous days, then you would have started thinking and creating this list for yourself as well, but savouring lots of moments and the small stuff leads to being more content and happy, as it all adds up. You just have to notice them and savour them.

Keep doing this over the coming weeks - savour the positive small stuff, and don’t let the negative small stuff get you down.

One way to approach this is find something positive about everything that happens to you throughout your day, even if it takes some deep thinking. Pay extra attention to what makes you smile, so you can do more of that :)

This simple exercise can make a massive difference to your overall outlook on life.

(Pictures from pexels.com)

Previous Days

Day 1 of 30 of the Happiness Challenge: How Happiness Is A Choice You Can Make Daily
Day 2 of 30 of the Happiness Challenge: Make Happiness Your Best Friend
Day 3 of 30 of the Happiness Challenge: Start Your Day With Gratefulness
Day 4 of 30 of the Happiness Challenge: Start Your Day With Gratefulness
Day 5 of 30 of the Happiness Challenge: Time to Get Busy...
Day 6 of 30 of the Happiness Challenge: Know Your Onions About Dealing With Stress
Day 7 of 30 of the Happiness Challenge: The Connection Between Happiness and Exercise
Day 8a of 30 of the Happiness Challenge: The Human Connection
Day 8b of 30 of the Happiness Challenge: The Human Connection 2