To Stress or Not to Stress

I spent two hours last night jumping up and down on towels trying to get them to absorb as much water from the carpet as possible. I realized something last night that I think I already knew, but it really became clear. The other day I pulled my car into the garage that I am house sitting at and pulled in too far and scraped the crap out of the front on my bumper and broke off part of a reflector. A year ago I would have been pissed. I would have completely stressed about the situation because it meant A) more money B) more time C) a pain in the ass to get fixed. This time I think I said “dang it”, got out of the car, picked up the pieces of the reflector and thought to myself, “Oh well. At least it wasn’t a major accident”. When I told my dad about it, his reaction was quite a bit stronger. At some point I told him that it wasn’t a big deal and that I would take care of it. Last night when the washing machine hose broke and poured water onto the floor and carpet for probably 30 minutes I walked out of the bedroom and again went “crap”. I called the emergency plumber (dad) and started to get things out of the laundry room so that it would be easier to start cleaning up. I had forewarned him there was water all over the floor, but when he got there, you would thought the house had burned down.

Now granted, my father is in a much more stressful place than I am even with my current situation, but I just don’t see what the point of getting so stressed about a situation that you can’t do anything about, except fix it will do. All it would do is just that…stress me out. It feels good to finally be in a place where the “little things” don’t matter so much anymore. Shit happens. It does. And you roll with it and move on. Sure, I would have rather spent those 2 hours curled up in bed watching reruns of Will and Grace and Sex in the City on TBS but that wasn’t an option.

What really are the things worth getting stressed over? Losing a job? Having trouble finding the next one? Staying with family for way too long? Even these things that are the most stressful in my life, seem to not eat at me so much anymore. I am where I am. I am doing all I can do to change that situation and stressing about it doesn’t do anything.

One of my favorite song quotes is from “Everyone is Free to Wear Sunscreen” where they say “Don’t worry about the future; or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubblegum. The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind; the kind that blindside you at 4pm on some idle Tuesday”. I believe that. It’s Wednesday now, so I guess I am safe for the next week.