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"Don't Sweat the Small Stuff" by Richard Carlson
6 years ago Turn Your Melodrama into a Mellow-Drama
"In a certain respect, this strategy is just another way of saying, "Don't sweat the small stuff". Many people live as if life were a melodrama -- "an extravagantly theatrical play in which action and plot predominate". Sound familiar? In dramatic fashion, we blow things out of proportion, and make a big deal out of little things. We forget that life isn't as bad as we're making it out to be. We also forget that when we're blowing things out of proportion, we are the ones doing the blowing".
"I've found that simply reminding myself that life doesn't have to be a soap opera is a powerful method of calming down. When I get too worked up or start taking myself too seriously (which happens more than I like to admit), I say to myself something like, "Here I go again. My soap opera is starting". Almost always, this takes the edge off my seriousness and helps me laugh at myself. Often, this simple reminder enables me to change the channel to a more peaceful station. My melodrama is transformed into a "mellow-drama" ".
