Most of the time, the things that upset us the most are not major life-altering events. Most of the time, we are upset by things so small, that they cause our whole world to come shattering down like a window hit by a pebble that was caught in a lawnmower. Have you ever spilled a little coffee on your shirt and it sent you into a tail spin? Or you finally get a taxi  and are headed to an important meeting, and you hit stand-still traffic and you think your head is going to explode? Everyday, these little pebble-like moments get the best of us and make it impossible for us to handle life’s larger blows. But, how we handle the little things is a big indicator of how we handle the big things.

Because little things are bound to happen to us daily, we can train the voice inside our head to have a calmer response. We can learn to realize that the little things, such as a long checkout line, do not always require as big of a reaction as we tend to give them. If we learn to simply shrug our shoulders and shake the little things off, then we are better able to handle the big things. That’s because when something big does happen—like the dog accidentally eats an entire box of chocolate—we can remain calm, figure out a plan to fix it, and execute the plan without having a toddler tantrum. So, focus on the little things, and be amazed at how you are better able to handle the big things.