Stop Being Anxious About the Small Things

I have been worried about missing the bus or being late to work.

I have been worried about losing my cell phone or simply misplacing my keys.

I have been worried about forgetting to return a call or failing to reply to an email.

I have been worried about missing a deadline.

I have been worried whenever I had to decline a request no matter how valid the reason is.

I have been worried that I do not meet other people's expectations or that others wouldn't like me.

I have been worried about what other people might say and many times I stop myself from doing what I want.

Anxiety is an emotion characterized by feelings of tension, worried thoughts, nervousness, and inability to relax.

I know that feeling anxious is normal and that I was dealing with it okay.

However, the past few weeks allowed me to experience a different kind of anxiety. The fear of losing a loved one is such a dreadful feeling. Seeing them sick each day is just awful and worse, there is nothing you can do about it. It's heartbreaking. The fear was real.

This experience made me realize that I have been anxious about so many little things in life when in fact, these are just material things or temporary concerns that we can fix or change. Petty things as some will call them.

I realized that it is time to go easy on ourselves. Learn to let go of the small, irrelevant concerns that cause you anxiety. Let your efforts be enough. Life doesn't have to be perfect. You don't even have to please everyone.

It is important that we learn to choose our battles because there are far bigger monsters and challenges that we should be worried about.