A New Year's Resolution (Or "Don't Sweat The Small Stuff")

For the last few days, I've been thinking about what I can do in 2020 to make my life better.  Yes, it's once again time to make those New Year's resolutions, which half of us will break within two months...kidding, but I digress. 

It occurs to me that I frequently involve myself in contentious political debates.  Some of these are rather civil in nature.  However, often the various discussions devolve into shouting matches and petty insults.  They also can produce great anger, which is not healthy for me (or anybody else, for that matter) to have a lot of. 

I realize that anger and division seems to be a national problem, as it runs rampant through our communities.  Knowing this, my main resolution for 2020 is to try to stem the tide of my own personal anger.  This means not involving myself in so many political debates; to an effect, choosing my battles a bit more carefully.  Indeed, not everything is worth the effort of getting upset about it. 

Now on to an interesting sub-topic.  Fellow music history buffs will note that in 1972, country artist Rick Nelson released a song called "Garden Party".  In the song, Nelson tells of his playing an all-star concert at Madison Square Garden (Nelson was booed for his performance, and left the concert early). 

There's a lot of wisdom to be found in music; this particular hit is no exception to that.  I find these to be the most relevant lyrics of said song;

"Well, it's all right now; I learned my lesson well.  You can't please everyone, so you got to please yourself". (1)

I have come to understand that, as Nelson said, I will never be able to please everyone.  This being the case, if people are hell-bent on disagreeing with me, I should let them disagree...and let it go.  
You see, there will always be somebody who disagrees with me; some of these people may even call me an idiot (or worse).  Even so, if I stay true to my own self and my own beliefs, I'll be doing all right. 

This is my primary resolution for 2020; don't get too upset about the little things.  As many have said before, "don't sweat the small stuff; (and) it's all small stuff"!




Sources:

1. Nelson, Rick. "Garden Party". Decca Records, 1972. Accessed 31 Dec 2019.