Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff: A Resilience Trick

Recently, my grandfather suffered a bad fall and was admitted to the hospital. It wasn’t the place I had expected to be that day, but I don’t think anyone expects to be in a hospital until life demands it.

Hospitals are places of healing, but they’re also places of pain, uncertainty, and heartbreak. 

And yet, amidst the beeping monitors and hushed conversations, I noticed something remarkable: the attitudes of those who work there.

Doctors, nurses, janitors, and staff of all kinds move through the halls with a level of care and service that is nothing short of extraordinary. 

They don’t just do their jobs. They do them with resilience and compassion. 

How? 

How do they maintain such positive attitudes when surrounded by so much suffering? 

One particular individual stood out to me. I overheard her say to herself, “That’s awesome!” with a cheerful, pleasant demeanor that was impossible for me to ignore. 

Her joy was contagious, and I felt compelled to ask—what’s her secret?

So I did!

She smiled and said, “Don’t sweat the small stuff.”

Wait. That’s it? 

Such a simple phrase, yet much harder to live by— or was I wrong about that too? 

Is There a Secret to Resilience?

This got me thinking—how do medical professionals put this into practice? 

What enables them to keep moving forward, to avoid getting stuck in a tough situation, and continue serving with a full heart? 

Perhaps it’s not that they can help others because they don’t get stuck, but rather, they don’t get stuck because their focus is on helping others.

It would be easy to assume that they’re unaffected simply because the patients aren’t their family members. 

But I don’t believe it’s that. We’re all human. We feel the weight of others' pain.

So, what’s the difference? What skills have medical professionals developed that we can all learn from?

1. They Stay Focused on Solutions: Instead of dwelling on the heartbreak, they look for ways to help. Action creates forward momentum. When they’re working, they’re solving problems, not just observing pain.

   
   

2. They Find Meaning in Service: Service is one of the greatest contributors to fulfillment. When you’re focused on helping others, your attention shifts outward instead of inward. This not only builds resilience but also reinforces purpose.
   

3. They Accept What They Cannot Control: Hospitals are filled with unpredictable situations. Medical professionals have learned to distinguish between what they can and can’t change. Wasting energy on the uncontrollable only leads to burnout.
   

4. They Reframe Challenges: A tough shift could be a burden or an opportunity to make a difference. The perspective they choose makes all the difference.
   

5. They Choose to Show Up: It’s not that it’s necessarily easy for them. It’s that they’ve chosen to do it anyway. They’ve built the habit of resilience by practicing it daily.
   

How Can We Apply This to Our Lives?

You don’t have to work in a hospital to apply these principles. 

Life itself is full of challenges, and it’s easy to get stuck in the small frustrations. 

But what if we took a page from these medical professionals' playbook? 

What if we focused on solutions instead of problems, found meaning in serving others, and let go of what we can’t control?

The next time life feels overwhelming, we can ask ourselves:

Is this really worth the stress? Or am I sweating the small stuff?

Because maybe, just maybe, the key to resilience isn’t as complicated as we make it. 

What benefit do we bring to ourselves and our families when we stress about the “small” stuff? 

Maybe resilience is more about shifting our perspective.

It’s in choosing service, and deciding—day after day—to show up for the people around us.