Today was one of those days where a lot of things seemed to go wrong.
A leaky faucet, a postal service error, a mess left by a contractor, an almost forgotten package, a delayed flight. Perhaps you’ve been there yourself.
As I was ruminating about my “bad day” to one of my friends, they remarked with relief that it wasn’t anything major causing my frustration, but rather a lot of little things that were adding up. That comment instantly changed my perspective.
See, I was carrying all of these petty annoyances around and letting them make me pretty cranky. Plus I was adding them to a giant virtual box of “mad” that I was ready to carry around all day and perhaps into the next.
But the way my friend said “little things” reminded me that there really wasn’t anything seriously wrong. In fact, I was essentially dealing with pebbles, not boulders. And that compelled me to re-tap into one of my favorite 2025 practices: intentional gratitude and seeking to turn my obstacles into action.
As Ryan Holiday says in his book, The Obstacle is the Way: “The obstacle in the path becomes the path. Never forget, within every obstacle is an opportunity to improve our condition.”
I didn’t choose to experience so many small aggravations. Nor could I have avoided them. But I did have the power to choose how I responded – and to remember that the emotional impact of “little things” can work both ways.
For example, during this same day when Murphy’s Law seemed to be in full effect, I had a lot of wonderful “little things” happen, too – a meal with a mentor, an enjoyable conversation with a friend, a quick resolution at the post office and enough extra time at the airport to relax (and write this blog).
As soon as I focused on those I began to feel a lot less like Debbie Downer and considerably more like Charlie Brown in the song Happiness when he says, “Gosh, it hasn’t been such a bad day after all.” In fact, it was a pretty darned good one.
I’m grateful that I chose to be grateful, and for the friend who helped put things in perspective. And today as always I’m hugely grateful for all of you.
Kathy