The Small Stuff

It has been a few days since I posted, which I guess is nothing too unusual in the blogging world, but I feel disconnected now.  Things have just been a bit busy until today, yet last night and today serve as reminders to me that yes, sometimes the "small stuff" really does matter.

First, I was reminded last night to cherish the small stuff.  I have been feeling a bit stir-crazy the last couple days despite being "busy" running errands and attending various doctor and gym appointments.  The funny thing about those things is that I just don't feel fulfilled when those are completed.  Maybe it is because I don't have anything solid that I can hold in my hands afterwards except for a recommendation to have my nose broken to correct a deviated septum.  Maybe it is because it doesn't feel like any of it really affects the world as a whole like working did.  Either way, I was left feeling unaccomplished. 

My solution, informing my husband last minute that it was going to be date night.  hehe.  As you can imagine, his reaction was a tentative "um....ok?"  The impromptu date turned out fabulous and here we get back to how I was reminded to cherish the small stuff.  Dinner was great of course (greek food...so yummy), but it was the after dinner party that was so great.  We spent the next 3 hours playing ping pong and board/card games.  Cheap, yes, but so much more fulfilling then paying $20+ for a movie or something equally uninvolved.  I have not experienced anything in the last few weeks that was more fulfilling then running around a small room, running into walls, and collapsing on the floor in laughter with a paddle and ping pong ball, all in an attempt to look like I actually know what I am doing to my husband who has his own freaking custom ping pong paddle.  It was a blast.  It was a small thing in the scope of life, but it was so big to rejuvenating my spirit.

Second, I was reminded today how sweating the small stuff ahead of time leads to less stress later.  How, you ask?  Quite simple.  It was a bad arthritis day.  Stiff, painful joints + extreme fatigue = a day of sitting on the couch attempting not to move.  The never-ending question is always was triggered it this time?  I am used to cause and affect and still grasping the fact that sometimes, RA will flare with no cause at all.  Annoying.  Yet I had accomplished my "small stuff" earlier in the week so I didn't feel like the house was going to shambles because I spent a day on the couch.  There is a reason I sweat the small stuff when I am up and able-bodied -- so that I can relax when my body needs me to without worries. 

So while in some people's lives "Don't sweat the small stuff" is an excellent motto, sometimes, just the opposite is most effective.