56. Learn to keep things in perspective.

Rudyard Kipling's poem "If" begins, "If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs…" and then proceeds to elaborate with four verses. He might have simply finished it with, "…learn to keep things in perspective." My observances over the years have convinced me that a lot of people often create their own problems because they cannot keep things in perspective. 

This lesson ties in very well with the suggestion that you do not sweat the small things and everything is a small thing (in the Big Picture of Life). A lot of people have a very difficult separating what is really important from things that are not as important. Thus they often needlessly become aggravated or upset over minor matters.

As a simple example, consider the driver behind you on the road who has to race past you in order to get ahead of you. In a minute, after you pull up behind the driver who is stopped at a red light, you really wonder why people endanger themselves without thinking. How much faster does the jaywalker arrive at his destination than the person who crosses the street at the corner intersection?

One of life's greatest stressors is the emotion of anger. How often have you observed people who get upset with something they see on a newscast or read in a paper? Responding angrily to something that we cannot effect, is a waste of time and is unhealthy as well. It makes no sense to become angry and foul-mouthed when your hockey team loses in overtime in a shootout! Does that make any sense at all?

Keeping things in perspective helps a person decide on priorities and results in them reaching their goals far more efficiently. Perspective is usually achieved by taking a step back and looking at the bigger picture. You do not get bogged down dealing with minor or irrelevant details. You save time, you save money, and you preserve your own sanity. When you start to feel overwhelmed don't just charge forward, instead, pause and take time to sort the wheat from the chaff. If you don't learn what is really important, then you will encounter a lot of problems. Remember to take time to think twice and cut once!