Peanut the pet squirrel from New York was taken from his home and euthanized by state officials. Peanut, even though he was illegal as a pet, went viral on the internet, and many people grieve the loss of this adorable little creature. But why did the state of New York go out of its way to put down this pet? Why did it choose this insignificant, small battle over larger problems that the state is facing? Issues like illegal immigrants and a struggling economy are at the top of most people’s minds; nobody is concerned about the legality of keeping a pet squirrel. It seems insignificant — an overreaction to a small problem.
We see this tendency in our own lives, especially in childhood. When I was younger, I took many small events that happened in my daily life and blew them way out of proportion. When my dad fractured his heel during a soccer scrimmage game at my church, I thought it was the end of the world. After seeing him in pain, I ran into the church and cried in one of the bathroom stalls, determining that it was the worst day ever. I remember writing all capital letters in my diary the following night and madly using my highlighter. But that is just how we are as children. Then we grow older, and, supposedly, we learn that some things aren’t as big of a deal as we think they are.
But I would venture to say that most of us still blow drama and failures out of proportion. We take problems that we face that are not as important as we perceive they are and overreact to them, arguing amongst ourselves or internally fighting in what turn out to be small battles. Sometimes, a C in that class can feel like the end of the world. And that insult your best friend gave you might make it seem like the friendship is over. However, it is important to realize what battles are truly worth all our energy and time. We should put our best effort into our projects and friendships; we shouldn’t put the same amount of time into what upsets us. If we don’t get the grade we want, there is no need to rant about how the professor didn’t grade it right or to feel burdened with guilt for weeks on end for not putting in the effort we could have. Having success in every little thing is impossible, and trying to achieve that results in us worrying about every small thing every day, which will certainly wear us out. Sometimes, we are so afraid of failure that we overreact when we don’t succeed.
Drama can also be blown out of proportion. Often, we overreact to some of the smallest gestures that we see in other people: a glare, a word or a rumor. Then overthinking leads to the problem becoming much larger than it is. We are like the state officials who were more concerned over the legality of a squirrel than other, larger issues. We might rant about something someone said but forget to spend time with God that morning or evening, a relationship that is so much larger than our small problems. Recognizing which fights are petty and which ones are important is a sign of maturity.
Psychology Today acknowledges this issue we face in an article titled “How to Stop Overreacting to the Small Stuff” by Ilene Strauss Cohen, Ph.D. In the article, Cohen gives helpful tips on dealing with overreacting. The first piece of advice she gives us is to “take a moment” and realize how we are reacting to a situation. She goes on to encourage us to “think about what just happened rationally by bringing yourself closer to objective truth rather than your subjective experience” and to “express yourself with ‘I’ statements, or remove yourself from the situation.” Cohen ends by saying, “If you’re still upset, find a way to re-channel how you feel.”
This isn’t so much a critique but a word of encouragement. When it feels like our world is ending, it is reassuring to take a step away from the drama and the problems and to realize that there is more to life than our small battles and overreactions. We likely will not remember the C we got on a project during college. We won’t spend our days reliving the drama of a breakup. Instead, we will overcome the worries and hurt and anger of some of our overdramatized problems. And one day we will all look back and see just how small they were.
Our Small Battles
Peanut the pet squirrel from New York was taken from his home and euthanized by state officials. Peanut, even though he was illegal as a pet, went viral on the internet, and many people grieve the loss of this adorable little creature. But why did the state of New York go out of its way to put down this pet? Why did it choose this insignificant, small battle over larger problems that the state is facing? Issues like illegal immigrants and a struggling economy are at the top of most people’s minds; nobody is concerned about the legality of keeping a pet squirrel. It seems insignificant — an overreaction to a small problem.
We see this tendency in our own lives, especially in childhood. When I was younger, I took many small events that happened in my daily life and blew them way out of proportion. When my dad fractured his heel during a soccer scrimmage game at my church, I thought it was the end of the world. After seeing him in pain, I ran into the church and cried in one of the bathroom stalls, determining that it was the worst day ever. I remember writing all capital letters in my diary the following night and madly using my highlighter. But that is just how we are as children. Then we grow older, and, supposedly, we learn that some things aren’t as big of a deal as we think they are.
But I would venture to say that most of us still blow drama and failures out of proportion. We take problems that we face that are not as important as we perceive they are and overreact to them, arguing amongst ourselves or internally fighting in what turn out to be small battles. Sometimes, a C in that class can feel like the end of the world. And that insult your best friend gave you might make it seem like the friendship is over. However, it is important to realize what battles are truly worth all our energy and time. We should put our best effort into our projects and friendships; we shouldn’t put the same amount of time into what upsets us. If we don’t get the grade we want, there is no need to rant about how the professor didn’t grade it right or to feel burdened with guilt for weeks on end for not putting in the effort we could have. Having success in every little thing is impossible, and trying to achieve that results in us worrying about every small thing every day, which will certainly wear us out. Sometimes, we are so afraid of failure that we overreact when we don’t succeed.
Drama can also be blown out of proportion. Often, we overreact to some of the smallest gestures that we see in other people: a glare, a word or a rumor. Then overthinking leads to the problem becoming much larger than it is. We are like the state officials who were more concerned over the legality of a squirrel than other, larger issues. We might rant about something someone said but forget to spend time with God that morning or evening, a relationship that is so much larger than our small problems. Recognizing which fights are petty and which ones are important is a sign of maturity.
Your greatest tool: Fear
Psychology Today acknowledges this issue we face in an article titled “How to Stop Overreacting to the Small Stuff” by Ilene Strauss Cohen, Ph.D. In the article, Cohen gives helpful tips on dealing with overreacting. The first piece of advice she gives us is to “take a moment” and realize how we are reacting to a situation. She goes on to encourage us to “think about what just happened rationally by bringing yourself closer to objective truth rather than your subjective experience” and to “express yourself with ‘I’ statements, or remove yourself from the situation.” Cohen ends by saying, “If you’re still upset, find a way to re-channel how you feel.”
This isn’t so much a critique but a word of encouragement. When it feels like our world is ending, it is reassuring to take a step away from the drama and the problems and to realize that there is more to life than our small battles and overreactions. We likely will not remember the C we got on a project during college. We won’t spend our days reliving the drama of a breakup. Instead, we will overcome the worries and hurt and anger of some of our overdramatized problems. And one day we will all look back and see just how small they were.