Are Little Mishaps Hijacking Your Day?

Disappointment and frustration can lead to depression, among several other emotions and conditions. The causes are many and varied. On a daily basis we can face factors that affect how we feel, situations and circumstances that impact our happiness, our contentment, our feelings of joy, our perspectives on success and failure. It can feel like a roller coaster of events, often hard to maneuver, and even sometimes these events make us feel like life is out of control. The truth is, it isn't beyond you helping yourself.

When disappointment hovers, a first step is dealing with reality. You've heard the saying "we make mountains out of molehills?" Yes, we do that, a lot. A really small thing can trigger loads of emotion, so much so that we lose the perspective of what really happened. Your coffee spills. You can't find your keys. The toilet got stuck. And, the story goes on, and on, and on with insignificant disorders of the day that hijack all the good and positive things you were affirming, and the sense of happiness you sought.

Well, in comparison, many major problems may loom that can't be remedied with a paper towel, discovering where you misplaced your keys that weren't really lost, and plunging the toilet. So, there's that. Those things that are for real - for real bigger issues that disappoint, and the things that you can't possibly immediately do something about, there's a whole other level of combat for that. Bigger battles, bigger problem-solving strategies are needed for sure. However, let's try managing the manageable stuff with this chat.

What is my point? Don't use a magnifying glass to analyze the small "upsets". Keep them small and manageable. Deal with them, and quickly if possible. If you find yourself saying "I knew this would be a crappy day" after several minor unexpected situations, just wait until tomorrow when new stuff happens all over again. Life is full of minor "disappointments" if you want to call them that, but I dare you to give them another name, and decide to handle them differently. Perspective, it matters how you see it.

These small things are not "gut punchers" and we have to learn to see it that way. They can be annoying, little invaders to our day, disappointing to a degree, but not so much that they send us back to bed to hide under the covers. Call them what they are: small hurdles. Then, daily work on your ability to master leaping over them, and trade frustration, disappointment and getting depressed for enjoying a much better day.~ S.R.F.