I've been practicing something - to have no reaction when a trivial thing doesn't go my way. For instance, yesterday for some reason, I had the clumsies. First I dropped an egg out of the refrigerator. Then I was emptying the dishwasher and a plastic bowl got away and rolled around the kitchen floor; I retrieved it, dropped it again and followed it until it stopped spinning. Upstairs while getting dressed, I dropped a pair of earrings and the toothpaste cap.

Later while running errands, I dropped my open wallet upside down between the car door and seat. Before that, I was carrying a mail bin full of large envelopes to go to the post office, and I dropped that, too - the envelopes went sliding underneath the car.

In each scenario, I could have chosen to become entirely exasperated (as we tend to do over the most tiny annoyances) or I could have chosen to have a ZERO reaction. I chose zero. I simply righted the errors and moved along. I figured if I set up a mood to allow these annoyances to ruin my day, then they would do just that.

On with the day ... I approached a pharmacy drive-thru, dropped off a prescription for cough syrup, and was told to return in 25 minutes. I returned in 1.5 hours yet it wasn't ready. I didn't huff, puff or whine to the clerk. I parked my car and played a word game on my phone. When I went inside to retrieve the prescription, there was a long line at the pharmacy. Okay, so what? I didn't react. My turn in line and the pharmacy needed my pharmacy insurance card - which was at home. Again, no huffing ... just dealing.

I wanted to try this zero method to compare the difference between becoming exasperated and annoyed instead of merely moving along calmly as if nothing happened. I couldn't believe the difference! It actually worked. Dropping an egg didn't have to set off a chain of events or any irritability to last the day. Dropped a mail bin of envelopes? So what? Does such an action have to ruin one's day? These things do not have to set us over the edge - they are really not worth it.

"I love this! Thanks for this every week!"
"My holidays used to be as you described [SNIPPETS Dec 4 issue], very hectic, putting up decorations, wrapping presents till 3 am, the cooking, baking and otherwise making of goodies, I actually LOVED it. My parents had people in and out all day and I looked so forward to it, even when I got married and went to the in-laws. I couldn't wait 'til I got to my parents to have fun and see family I didn't get to see that often. Now my parents are gone and there is NOTHING, no one comes to visit, even best friends don't show up, none of my family even remembers that we exist. I would love to have those hectic times back - so if you have them, find a way to enjoy them - FIND YOUR BREATH and ENJOY because when it's gone, it's gone and you will never know how much you will miss it."