Sometimes it’s just the Small Stuff

posted on Jun 04 by Linda Beck in the Guest Authors, Linda Beck category

The loss of a loved one through death or divorce, the empty-nest syndrome, a financial crisis, or ill health due to age or disease, can be mind-altering circumstances.

These may require long periods of healing.

But sometimes it’s just the “small-stuff” that may ruin a moment, an hour, or a day. An unexpected storm can really screw up a picnic, a camping trip, or worst of all an outdoor wedding. Small things like ants or mosquitoes can mess up a picnic or a walk in the evening. A gentle breeze can improve a stroll in the park anytime, but a tornado can destroy people, places, or things.

Forgetting one ingredient can ruin a favorite recipe. I know from personal experience that you won’t forget the vanilla flavoring in homemade banana pudding but once. Omitting the salt or baking soda or powder when using plain flour will remind you to buy self-rising flour the next time.

It was interesting that the Sunday after I started writing this, one of my favorite preachers, Joel Osteen, preached on “Don’t sweat the small stuff.” I found that I agreed with almost everything he said: “Don’t make a mountain out of a mole hill.” “Go with the flow.” “Is it a five-minute, five-hour, or five-day problem?” “Try to see the humor in a five-minute problem.” “This too shall pass.”

Sometimes it helps if we can see that God gets our attention through the “small stuff.” There are a lot of lessons we can learn. For example: At times I have to bite my tongue or at least curb my anger before I bring it to someone’s attention that I don’t appreciate the fact that in spite of my $20 sign on my handicapped accessible van, they still blocked me in. How many times has that happened now?

This time it was a motorcycle parked between me and a tree. I guess he wanted to park in the shade too, but there were other shady places. I sat at Hurley Park writing about this when Kathy Chaffin from The Salisbury Post stopped to chat with me. It was so sweet when she wrote about our conversation and said, “Watching the peaceful expression on her face as she wrote, it appeared that the little aggravation may have been quickly forgotten.” She was right! Sitting there by the fountain listening to the water, the birds, and feeling the peace of God, I was putting another “small thing” in my collection of stories of the events that happen in my life.

Like Joel Osteen said, this was a five-minute problem. Now on the other hand, had I not found the owner of the motorcycle, it could have become a five-hour problem. Under those circumstances, the mole hill might have become a mountain.

I heard a motorcycle joke once that went something like this: A large gang of bike riders went into a diner where one lone man was eating a hamburger. One tough guy tried to get the fellow’s attention by making some derogatory remarks and messing with the man’s food. The bully tried every way he could to raise the guy’s hackles but the man ignored him, finished his meal, paid the bill and left. The rough neck said to the bartender, “He’s not much of a man, is he?” The bartender replied, “He ain’t much of a driver either; he just plowed down all those motorcycles out there.”

Now if I didn’t have Jesus in my heart after five hours or five days of a little mole hill becoming a mountainous problem, I might not be much of a driver either. I’ve heard

a lot of comments about how well I can handle my scooter. I always tell folks if I can’t handle it after sixteen years, there would be no good excuse. (But I do go out of my way not to hit people, cars, or motorcycles.) There are some days that temptation to be hateful, mean, or ugly could get hold of me if I were not a firm believer who wants to be more “Christ-like” in all I do.

So back to the “small stuff;” a handicapped person has to perform in a bigger way than healthy people. Even now as multiple sclerosis shows itself again, the difficulty of standing, dressing, and transferring reminds me of the difference between small mole hills and major mountain ranges. But I’m still not confined to bed, I can read and write, and still drive the van, so I am blessed with that peace that Kathy saw on my face.

Now if you happen to see a black van with a white sign on the passenger side that reads “Ramp van, allow 8’ for clearance,” and it is parked in a haphazard way or hogging two parking spaces, just smile and think something like this: “Well, Linda is practicing self-defense and she is at peace.” Even if you want one of those parking spaces, find peace and don’t sweat the “small stuff.” I doubt if I will ever be in one place five hours.