How to handle minor daily life problems
Prepare yourself by always having some slack in your schedule, money in the bank, and keeping really fit.
Life is full of small irritations. Such as traffic jams, or trying to make your money last to the end of the month. And sooner or later, every single day, something always goes wrong. People are difficult, a tyre bursts, or you run out of salt.
But before you get paranoid, none of that is about you. It’s because there are far more ways that things that can go wrong in our universe, than ways they can go right. So life’s inevitably one long struggle to stop everything from falling apart.
Those little daily troubles aren’t exactly the stuff of your dreams. But the way you handle them says a lot about whether you’ll succeed in life. Because dealing with the small stuff is a sort of training that makes you better able to deal with the real disasters.
Such as your spouse suddenly demanding a divorce. The list of potential problems is endless, and you can’t pretend they never happen, or avoid dealing with them when they do. Because when you suddenly realise that your marriage is on the rocks, you have to drop everything else and cope.
Disaster strikes
So it’s worth developing your ability to deal with trouble. Especially the stuff that’s easy to let slip. That’s true for all of us, and is one of the best ways to make sure you’ll be one of the winners. Because ‘trouble handling skills’ keep you safe when disaster strikes. And being prepared often means disasters never happen at all.
So consciously start taking care of your little daily hassles, even though they aren’t urgent or dramatic. Like it’s easy to delay spending time with your children. Or to neglect your health until something really serious happens.
Instead, accept that irritations are inevitable. And learn to maintain your optimism in the face of difficulties. Recognise that life’s always complicated and can be tiresome. And that as you become more successful, your responsibilities will increase. And so will your problems. So you should prepare for them. Then you won’t panic. And you will cope.
Total surprise
Because setbacks are rarely ever a complete and total surprise. And life is never fair. So just get good at it.
Prepare yourself by always having some slack in your schedule, money in the bank, and keeping really fit. So you can always handle the unexpected.
View every difficulty as a learning opportunity rather than as a problem. And always be proactive, taking care of difficulties while they’re still small. Because preventative maintenance is a really good idea. So quickly repair any damage to your clothes, your relationships, or your health. Service your car, and keep plenty of fuel in the tank. And your kitchen cupboard well stocked.
Learn from every experience and try not to have the same problem twice. Making whatever changes is necessary to prevent a repeat before you move on.
And gradually you will become what you learn. So expect trouble, build up your resilience, and you’ll always come out ahead.
