Simple Suggestion #246... Let little things be little things

Im having a difficult time as a writer lately. Wouldnt you know it, I accidentally knocked my keyboard off my desk last week and now I have no apostrophes or quotation marks when I type. Its rather frustrating, as all my contractions and possessives have turned into misspellings and bad grammar, and I usually pride myself on knowing things like when to use its vs. its. Quotation marks are also pretty necessary when Im working on a conversation or trying to emphasize a word.

It wouldnt be so bad if I could figure out how to turn on my hubbys computer in order to make little fixes here on my moodlings, but I cant even find an ON button on his fancy-schmancy tablet thingy. So here I sit, complaining about nothing important and looking like I cant spell or punctuate properly. Oh, the horrors!

The interesting thing is that the vast majority of the things we North Americans complain about are little things like this, or what we could call First World Problems, but we often dont realize it until we come up against Real World Problems. Serious health issues. Alcohol or drug abuse. Homelessness. The death of a loved one. Domestic violence. We dont have to face war or extortion on a daily basis... but there are many in our world who do. So not being able to find the ON button on a fancy-schmancy tablet thingy when 96% of the worlds population cant even own a fancy-schmancy tablet thingy is small potatoes, right?

It helps to keep perspective, and to remind ourselves, daily, that our FWPs arent really anything to complain about. Its even better when they motivate us to do something about RWPs. Why not get involved in the excellent programs created by Development and Peace or other justice-based organizations of your choice, or participate in the work of groups dedicated to a cleaner and healthier world, like the Blue Dot movement here in Canada? Im sure you could probably name a fistful of other possibilities...

I was tempted to post a sort of snarky video about the minor irritations known as FWPs, but Id much rather post todays suggestion: to let the little worries go, and contribute toward solutions for the big problems.

After all, whats a missing apostrophe in the grand scheme of life?