You’ve probably heard the saying, “Don’t sweat the small stuff.” Yes, that statement is definitely true, but what about noticing the little things? Do you ever do that?

On Sunday night, when I went to go to sleep, I was cold and shivering. So much so thatI grabbed my second blanket. I woke up Monday morning still cold. I have a fan constantly running because my room gets stuffy if air isn’t circulating. I turned that off, but my room didn’t get any warmer. I was too cold to go back to sleep. As I laid in bed, I noticed that my window was misaligned. That was the problem! My window was open!

It wasn’t open very wide, maybe a couple of inches, but it was enough to make a difference. I closed my window, and less than fifteen minutes later, my room was getting stuffy again so I turned my fan back on.

Again, it wasn’t wide open, but it made such a difference in the temperature of my room. It took me some time to notice. Sometimes the smallest things make the biggest impact in either a positive or negative way.

A friend who takes time to message me and ask how I’m doing can make my day. A bad exam can ruin my day. I think it’s the little things that affect me more than the big things.

Over the weekend, I found a leather jacket at a really good price. I have been wanting a leather jacket for a while. However, the ones that I have found, I either don’t like or they don’t fit me properly. The first two I tried on fit me, but they didn’t fit me well. I could barely move in them, and I couldn’t zip it up. I tried the third one on, and I knew it was trouble. It zipped all the way, it was a good color, and it fit on my arms. I sent a picture of me wearing it to my closest friends and just said “Oh no” along with it. It was dangerous because it had caused me to fall in love with it. In reality, it’s a minor thing. Was I in desperate need of a leather jacket? No. But am I excited that I found one that fits me really well? Absolutely!

Also over the weekend, I knocked out a minor housekeeping project that had been bothering me. It was something that was easily fixed, but I had just been neglecting it. But I’m moving out in a few days for the summer, and it needed to be done. So I finally got around to taking care of it.

Also over the weekend, I knocked out a minor housekeeping project that had been bothering me. It was something that was easily fixed, but I had just been neglecting it. But I’m moving out in a few days for the summer, and it needed to be done. So I finally got around to taking care of it. It took me like five minutes, but I feel so much better having done it.

Another little thing that I noticed has a big impact on me is my attitude. A good attitude can make a day so much better, and a bad attitude can bring my day down a lot. I know I can get emotional and overwhelmed at times. Working on my attitude and not letting things affect me as much is really beneficial to me. I’ve noticed how much of a difference it makes. I wrote at the beginning of the month how March was a month of no bad days. April is probably going to be another one. A big factor of that has been my attitude. How I respond to certain situations affects how good or bad they are. It also affects how much it bothers me. If I control my mood and how I respond, then bad things don’t affect me as much, and good things can be made a whole lot better.

If you haven’t already gathered by now, I think the little things are important. Yes, it is important not to sweat the small stuff, but that doesn’t mean you can’t notice them. Notice the things others do for you. Pay attention to what makes you happy and what sets you off.

I know I’ve mentioned this before, but a couple things that really help me watch this is my mood tracker and my gratitude journal. My mood tracker puts into perspective what happened that day. Was the one thing that set me off really enough to bring down my whole day? In some cases, the answer is yes. But more often than not, the answer is no. My gratitude journal forces me to find things to be grateful for, even on my worst days. If I wake up late, I am learning to be grateful that I still made it to class on time. Sometimes, just because my day starts out bad doesn’t always mean it ends badly. In that case, the one little bad thing is not enough to bring my day down. It is noticed and reminded. At the end of the day, I can be like, “Wow, I had a great day today. And hey, maybe my body just needed the extra sleep.”

If my window that was only open 2 or 3 inches can affect the entire temperature of my room, imagine how much something small can affect you. So yeah, don’t sweat the small stuff, but notice the little things.