Richard Carlson has just had a nasty shock.

A new foreign edition copy of his book You Can Feel Good Again has landed on his desk and emblazoned on the front cover is an endorsement from the great Wayne Dyer.

The only problem with this endorsement?

Wayne never gave it.

You might’ve heard of the “Father of Motivation” Wayne Dyer.  I write about him every now & then in these emails.

Wayne’s speaking tours were selling out Wembley Stadium long before Taylor Swift, Jake Paul or the England Football Team.

In many ways, Wayne Dyer was the Tay Tay of personal growth.

Perhaps you’ve heard of Richard Carlson too.  Carlson was a motivational speaker, psychotherapist and author, writing 20 books on a variety of self-help topics.

Thing is, Wayne Dyer actually *had* given Richard Carlson this endorsement, but for a completely different book.  And due to a mix up at publishers, it was now wrongly appearing on the front cover of You Can Feel Good Again.

So what did Carlson do?

First off, he contacted the publisher and demanded the books be taken off the shelves.

Carlson also decided to write Dyer a letter, apologising and explaining what was being done to sort this pickle out.

A few weeks later, Carlson got a letter in reply.

It simply said:

Richard.  There are two rules for living in harmony. 1) Don’t sweat the small stuff and 2) It’s all small stuff.  Let the quote stand.  Love, Wayne

This letter went on to inspire another Richard Carlson book called Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff. 

Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff was published in 135 countries and spent 101 weeks on the New York Times Best Seller List.

I’ve read it and I wholeheartedly recommend it.  It’s also where I found this short story.

Now, you might be expecting me to make a point about how mistakes can lead to success, the importance of going with the flow or the power of grace & humility.

But instead, I want to pick up on the second part of Dyer’s letter (It’s all small stuff).

I’ve noticed that whether something looks like a big deal or a mere trifle tends to fluctuate as my mood fluctuates.

The other day I dropped a coffee mug on my kitchen floor.  The coffee spilled everywhere and the mug’s handle broke clean off.

I know if I was feeling tired or grumpy, this would’ve looked like a disaster.  I would’ve sighed to myself, got in a tizz and given myself a tough time.

Fortunately, I was well rested and in a frivolous state of mind.  So while it still required some clean up, I was smiling to myself as I did.

And this makes me wonder:

What if the severity & significance of a situation isn't intrinsic to the situation itself but instead is intrinsic to how we relate to that situation?

And, more to the point, what if it really was all small stuff?

I'll leave you with that thought for today.

 - Tom

p.s. if you’d like to find less stress & frustration and a more relaxed approach to life’s challenges, you might be interested in this:

https://waitinglist.followingfulfilment.com