If you aren’t familiar with renowned cardiologist Dr. Robert S. Eliot, you are certainly familiar with his most famous quotation. In a 1983 Time magazine article about cardiac health, Dr. Eliot advised readers, “Don’t sweat the small stuff.”He then continued with his now legendary tagline, “… and it’s all small stuff.”

Sage advice. Yet despite the sagacity of the good doctor’s guidance, I seem to be having a difficult time following it here in retirement.

Back in those wild and wooly working years – when all the wheels were spinning, the bullets were flying, and the lights were flashing – my daily question was, “Did anybody die?” If the answer was “NO,” I judged the day a success.

Those were the days when there were kids to be raised, jobs to be done, deadlines to be met, and bread to be won. “Good enough” was… good enough. 

But today, here in Retiredsville things are a lot different. There is a slower pace. A calmer rhythm. There is a lot more time to bend down, scrunch my eyebrows together, and look REALLY CLOSELY at life’s “small stuff.”

Here’s an example. Last week we traveled out of town for Thanksgiving. When Joan and I travel and do not take our two dogs with us, we engage a delightful young woman to come stay with them and keep an eye on the house. She loves Patrick and Rosie (the dogs) and they love her, so it is a good arrangement all around.

When we returned from this trip to a joyous, dogslobbery reunion, we took stock of things in the house and yard. And that’s when I saw it! Horror of horrors! I saw that the TRASH bin had been returned to the place where the RECYCLING bin was supposed to be! And vice versa! Surely the earth was now wobbling on its axis! The moon had turned to BLOOD! Dogs and cats were now sleeping together! (If you know, you know). 

I was annoyed because there are REASONS I put those bins in the places I put them. Why couldn’t she see that and just follow suit?

But then I caught myself and had my own, private little “come to Jesus” meeting with myself. “Seriously?” I asked me. “You’re going to get your knickers tied in a knot about THAT? Do you honestly not have bigger fish to fry than worrying about where the house-and-dog-sitter put the trash cans? You seriously need to get a life, bub.”

I continued; “I mean, look around, man! There are so many things that are REALLY worth fretting about right now. A kakistocracy running (and ruining) this once-grand country, for starters. Poverty, homelessness, and addiction rates at all-time highs! A climate ravaged by greed and ignorance! The raucous return of racism, fascism, homophobia, and every other flavor of bigotry known to man! And you’re getting worked up about TRASH CANS being put in the WRONG PLACE???”

I think the technical term for this is “catastrophizing.” The ancient practice of making mountains out of molehills. The theological term for it is, “failing to trust that no matter how janky things get, God is with you and will never leave you.” 

It amounts to a concerted effort to blatantly ignore Jesus’ words to the folks gathered on that Galilean hillside when he said, “But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith?” (Matthew 6:30, NRSVU). 

Or as the wise Dr. Eliot paraphrased, “Don’t sweat the small stuff. And it’s all small stuff.”

Abundant blessings;