Wifey Wednesday - Small Stuff

Do you let the little things in life get to you?  On today's Wifey Wednesday Sheila talks about our perspective in different seasons of life and how it affects the way we deal with our loved ones.  She asks "Do you ever feel discontented, grumpy, mad at the world?"

There are times when I do feel discontented, grumpy and mad at the world.  I find that at those times the most common denominator is tiredness.  The thing that affects my mood the most is when I'm tired or when my period is approaching(I usually feel tired then too).  Anytime I hear myself being short or being petty I realize that I'm way too tired to continue.  So at those times I stop and go take a rest.  If a rest is not possible I try to deliberately not answer anything I feel offended about but speak to myself in my mind to get myself to calm down and think straight.

So here's another question from Sheila: How do you recapture that gratitude you once had? How do you come back to the perspective you had about being grateful for a family?

There's a method that many use with their children which is time out.  Even adults need to give themselves a time out.  Whether it be 5, 10 or 15 minutes.  Just taking that time and praying through the emotions I'm feeling helps.  For those times when time out doesn't work, like I mentioned above the key for me is to be well rested. I find that when I'm well rested and prayed up all is right with my world and I don't get irritated so easily.

Another strategy that I've read on many blogs is to keep a thankful diary.  Many are part of a meme called Thankful Thursday where they list things that they are thankful for.  Keeping a list of things we are thankful for in the forefront of our minds helps us not to sweat the small stuff.  It's hard to be grumpy when you're thinking thoughts of thankfulness.

One of the things I also do is to give my husband or whomever it is the benefit of the doubt.  I usually speak to myself and say something to the effect of "Maybe they're having a bad day or maybe their mind was elsewhere" or whatever is pertinent to the situation that gives the person the benefit of the doubt.  When I do that then I am not sweating any thing much less the small stuff.

So how about you?  Do you sweat the small stuff?  What strategies do you use to help yourself not to sweat the small stuff?  Share in the comments and feel free to hit the reply button below someone else's comment and respond to theirs.  Let's get talking...

For more Wifey Wednesday posts visit To Love, Honor and Vacuum or better yet write your own and enter your post and link up on Sheila's blog.