#Microblog Monday 497: Maybe It Doesn’t Matter
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Along with the goose in the bottle, another mind-shifting thought is to take a step back whenever you’re upset and ask yourself, “Does this really matter?”
Some things matter. But we’re conditioned to react as if everything matters. And when you can take a step back and say, “Wait, does it really matter if I do X or get Y or feel Z?” you sometimes find that the answer is actually no. It doesn’t matter. It doesn’t change your world in any way beyond a tiny, temporary blip.
It was an interesting thought exercise when I felt myself panicking last week to ask myself: “Does this really matter?”
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4 comments
The goose in the bottle exercise blue my mind 🙂
This is a very good reminder – I have a tendency to over-react. I need to figure out how to pause just before I get to the point-of-no-return with emotions and ask myself exactly that – does this really matter… And sometimes, certain things matter NOW but do not matter in the long-term…
Thanks for the thought-provoking post, Mel!!!
Whoa, a goose in a bottle… I can’t quite wrap my head around that puzzle. Is there an answer, or is it meant to just rattle around in your mind, making you worried about the captive goose?
“Does this really matter?” is a great thing to come back to when upset. It reminds me of a meme I saw recently that said something like “If you’re worrying about someone not liking you, ask yourself why you even care?” It’s that letting go thing that is so freeing, but also so hard. 🙂
For so many years, I didn’t feel I was allowed to get upset and that my feelings/wishes didn’t matter. (Middle child syndrome, with a volatile older sibling!) So I’ve spent years training myself out of that. (Hence my post this week! lol) But yes, having balance about figuring out what matters and what doesn’t really helps!
I use the “does this really matter?” thing when arguing with my daughter. I wish I had been able to do it with my husband but he was so far under my skin, I couldn’t get perspective. The kid gets pretty dramatic, but I don’t usually have a stake in her outcomes (and when I do, we don’t tend to disagree), so it’s easier.