This is a fun strategy for me to write about because “drop the drama” is, of course, another way of saying “Don’t sweat the small stuff.”
I asked Anne, a nineteen-year-old, the following question: “Looking back, what was the hardest ‘nonserious’ part of being a teen?” After thinking about it for a minute she said, “To me and a lot of my friends, it was probably the drama of daily living.” There’s no question that the teenage years can be filled with drama. On the other hand, there’s also no doubt that making the decision to drop (at least some of) the drama can equate to a much happier and more peaceful life.
The question is, “How do you do that?”
Admittedly, it’s a little scary at first, but the only way that I’m aware of is to have the humility to admit that at least a portion of the things that you think of in dramatic terms aren’t quite as “life and death” as you sometimes make them out to be. In other words, we often allow ourselves to get all worked up and bothered about things that, on a second look, aren’t really that big a deal after all.
A friend, for example, might make a mistake or say something wrong. Rather than forget about it and get on with our day, we allow ourselves to feel offended and annoyed. We think about the mistake during the rest of the day, feeling more and more justified in our irritation. Many of us might even go home and tell others about it, or call a friend to commiserate, rather than simply letting it go.
These and thousands of other day-to-day incidents (everything from being cut off on the freeway, to having a bad hair day, to making a stupid mistake on a test, to being talked about behind your back, to the phone being out of order, to losing something) can be looked at in one of two ways: as something else to dramatize and get upset over, or as yet another chance to let something go. And while it can be really tempting to blow these types of things out of proportion, it’s ultimately better for your sanity, your friendships, and your happiness to learn to let them go.
The problem with sweating the small stuff is that there is, and always will be, an endless supply of things to sweat over. There always will be friends making mistakes, strangers cutting us off, things being lost, plans going astray, and all the rest. Pretty soon we’re sweating everything, and life seems to be one drama right after another. Needless to say, this takes an enormous amount of mental energy and saps the joy from your life.
As you learn to let some of these things go, however, you’ll find yourself experiencing far less stress and aggravation. You’ll be left with more mental energy and creativity in order to live life to its fullest.