Sweating the small stuff

A week in Joplin Missouri post tornado will put things in perspective. When I first got there I was still thinking about myself, that I didn’t want to be there, I would rather be at home, that I could be golfing right now. After hearing the stories, seeing the people, seeing the destruction, you start to realize how short life is. In just a few minutes so many people lost their homes, their cars, all of their belongings, their way to make a living, and sadly some lost their lives. In the blink of an eye their entire lives were turned upside down. It makes being stressed about the fact that my brakes are making a terribly embarrassing noise, or that my apartment feels too small, or that I can’t hit a drive straight down the fairway consistently, seem ridiculous. You feel silly for having let those become stresses. Unfortunately, for the human brain it’s out of sight out of mind sometimes, just hours from returning home I got in my car and the squealing started and I got irritated and annoyed that I still had to deal with the situation. Maybe I should have done like the 21 year-old volunteer from Chicago I met, and got a Joplin tattoo on my forearm to help me remember to not sweat the small stuff.