Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff

According to the singer Andy Williams this is supposed to be, “The most wonderful time of the year.” As much as I love the holiday season, the never ending to-do list and attempt to make Christmas magical, can be very overwhelming and exhausting.

Every December, I feel like I am running ragged getting the house decorated, shopping till I drop, grocery shopping and cooking and baking all of my kid’s favorites.

Admittedly, I was feeling a bit like the scrooge the other day when I went to the mall and it was really busy. Then the idea of having to wrap a ton of gifts sounded terrible.

All of the little things that I should have been excited for, were stressing me out.

.Fast forward to this week and after an ordinary day I was on my way to a soccer board meeting when I twisted my ankle walking to my car and fell. I cut up my left hand and my right foot took the brunt of the fall.

I tried to ignore the throbbing in my foot, but the next morning I knew I had to see a doctor. I went to the podiatrist and sadly, the x-ray revealed I fractured my foot in two places. The doctor told me I would have to be in a boot and can’t spin for at least 3-4 weeks. 

Also, no driving while I’m in a boot.

I cried in her office when I realized how bad the timing is. My girls come home from college next week and we had all sorts of plans that involve my being able to walk comfortably. My kids are my everything and I’m so sad I won’t be able to give them my all.

Once I got home from the doctor and tried to resume my normal daily activities, I realized the most mundane tasks take so much more effort with a boot on and everything is a struggle. 

Thankfully my kids are able to do a lot, but it is the most helpless feeling not to be able to do everything for myself. I am always cooking, cleaning, doing laundry, errands, etc. And every chore takes more time or I need help doing it.

The idea of not being able to spin or drive were the first things I was upset about, but not being able to do life as I normally do is beyond frustrating and humbling.

I have a newfound respect for people living with disabilities or illnesses. And a newfound appreciation of doing my crazy life unencumbered.

When I’m out of the boot, I vow not to complain (or at least not as much) about the everyday small stuff. 

One of my best friends and I have a running joke that we call, “In today’s episode of FML” and then we share what annoying thing happened. Between the two of us, our 9 kids and 2 dogs, almost daily there is something to share.

But after this injury, I am going to reframe what constitutes a FML day. Health should really be the only important barometer of whether I’m having a good day or not. The rest is secondary. I will use this time to reevaluate the power of gratitude.

As long as my kids and I are healthy, I will take that as a winning day.

The upside of being in a boot is that I will be spending a lot of time on the couch writing, reading and watching TV. 

General Hospital was on today while I was writing this piece and my next project will be spending a lot of time trying to figure out how so many of the characters look exactly the same twenty years later.

Maybe this was God’s way of telling me to slow down, appreciate my wonderful life and not to stress about the small stuff.

And it’s all small stuff…