The dog poop on the floor doesn’t matter.
It seriously doesn’t, and in this post, we’re talking about things mattering and how most things don’t.
If you deal with any sort of anxiety, OCD, or consider yourself Type A, you are probably like me, and things matter. Things get us upset, make us uneasy, and create a general sense of unhappiness.
But do these things that make us uneasy matter, or do we need to gain a different perspective?
Now I’m a Type A, OCD, Introvert, OCD, control freak, Type A, anxious mess when it comes to things that matter.
However, recently, I’ve changed the way I look at situations and I’ve come up with a clear answer.
It doesn’t matter, in fact, most things don’t.
And I think when we come to the realization, that these things don’t matter, we become happier and who doesn’t want to be happy?
So let’s talk about why most things don’t matter and what truly does.
It Doesn’t Matter
The Dog Poop Analogy
I use dog poop as an analogy here because there is a lot of good that can come from the dog doing his or her business in the middle of the kitchen floor.
Now our first initial reaction is often anger and disgust that a fully housetrained dog had an accident on the floor. However, if we change our perspective we can think differently about the situation.
Perhaps the floor needed to be mopped anyway? Perfect. We’re now motivated to get it mopped.
Hopefully, the dog feels better. No one likes a pet in distress.
It also gives us the experience to examine and be proactive about in the future. How can we prevent this from happening again?
Did I forget to let the dog out?
Should the dog have been let out before bedtime or after he or she ate dinner?
The facts are, that at the point where there is a pile of poop on the kitchen floor, it has become a situation that is now out of our control.
The only thing in our control is our emotional reaction toward the situation. And guess what? It doesn’t matter.
We make the choice to get upset and anxious however it’s not necessary and not worth stressing over.
All we need to do is simply clean up the poop.
Most things, that do not matter, are out of our control. So perhaps we shouldn’t be bothered with worrying and getting upset. Perhaps we should chill.
The Youngest Child Syndrome
If you have siblings or you are a parent, it’s pretty common for older children to discuss for the rest of their lives how the youngest child in the family got away with murder.
Boo hoo. Mom and Dad would have never let me get away with this or that.
Well, it’s kind of true.
But the reason it was OK for the youngest to light the curtains on fire and bring home horrible grades is that as parents, we realize as we get older, the little things don’t matter.
It simply becomes clear, that the things we thought made a difference, won’t matter in 5 to 10 years.
The child with the terrible grades will go on to do great things and the curtains were old and faded anyway so move on.
It Just Doesn’t Matter
The point here is to understand that most things don’t matter or won’t make a difference in 5, 10, or even 20 years.
The speeding ticket you got on the way home from work, the lunch order that got screwed up at that restaurant, or the fact that the car just broke down.
It doesn’t matter.
There are probably typo’s in this post or grammar issues, however, it doesn’t matter.
Often, things that don’t matter were not in our control, to begin with.
Why should things matter and bring unwanted stress to our lives when there was nothing we could do to prevent the situation?
It’s really important to ask the question, is this going to matter in 5, 10, or even 20 years from now?
Most of the time the answer is no, so move on.
When things go wrong, and they always will, it’s important to find the positive. There may be dog poop on the floor but the floor needed mopping anyway. Now we have the motivation to mop the floor.
What Matters
Happiness.
Happiness matters and we need to always point at our north star. Self-awareness and understanding of what makes us happy and what doesn’t is important.
Things and circumstances that we react to emotionally without looking at the big picture take away our happiness.
There is a serious lack of self-awareness and happiness in our world. I hope to help change this.
Health
Health matters so much. Not only our own health but the health of the important people in our lives.
If you found out in a second that your spouse had died or one of your children was killed in a bad accident would that parking ticket matter?
This is why it doesn’t matter.
There is always something way bigger than the current problem.
A Means
This one may get criticized however it matters.
Not because money is super important but a means is.
A means to survive, a means to eat, a means to have a roof over our heads, etc.
A means, or money matters. And that’s why we should consider it important. It’s important to not squander money and personal resources on needless things and tasks.
Meaningful work and ability keeps us happy and gives us opportunities which matter.
A means to not only help ourselves but to help others as well. A means matters.
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