We’re experiencing another winter storm in Salisbury, and the local television stations have been pumping up the arrival of winter storm “Janus” non-stop for a few days. Today the storm hit, but it arrived later and has thus far been much less severe than the dire warnings they’ve been conjuring. That hasn’t stopped the station from pushing forward with their planned coverage.
My wife, who is from Minnesota and no stranger to winter weather, found untold glee in the attempts of the newscasters to play up the storm. We saw a ride along in a snow plow (with no snow falling at all), live reports from a local grocery store bread aisle and a hardware store display of ice melt (both of which were in ample supply), and a reporter referring to the massive drifts the road crews were combatting (while pointing to about an inch of snow on the shoulder of the road). The laughter our family found in the overreactions have seldom been topped by the latest comedy blockbuster from Hollywood.
Laughter can be a wonderful reminder in our daily lives not to overreact to small obstacles life throws our way. We can either blow things out of proportion to the issue at hand, or we can step back, try to chuckle, and move around whatever is in our way. In other words, don’t sweat the small stuff. It all reminds me of an old book that helps put things into perspective when I start needlessly worrying. Some of the examples may be a little dated, but the basic lessons are as applicable today as when the book was first published sixty years ago.