Sweet the Small Stuff?

 

 

Shabbat Table Talk from the desk of Rabbi Alexander Seinfeld

August 16-17, 2025 • 22 Av 5785 • Eikev (Deut 7-11).
Happy birthday shout-out to Shelli! 

 

Do you recall the 1997 best-seller, Don't Sweat the Small Stuff?

(Did you or anyone you know ever read it?)

It was more than a best seller - it spent two years on the best seller lists and was translated into 30 languages, and launched an entire brand for author Richard Carlson: 

Don't Sweat the Small Stuff at Work
Don't Sweat the Small Stuff in Love
Don't Sweat the Small Stuff for Men
Don't Sweat the Small Stuff for Teachers

And on and on.... It's amazing how many ways you can rewrite a book! It reminds me of the quip by the late Rav/Dr Avraham Twerski - "I wrote one book 75 times."

I searched but could not find Carlson's books on recommended-reading lists by psychotherapists.

Perhaps because the title says it all — it's easy to get caught up in a worry or anxiety about something that either is not really consequential or that you can't do anything about.

But I wonder how many people reading this know the full title of his original book?

Don't Sweat the Small Stuff, and It's All Small Stuff

Question for your table - do you agree that "it's all small stuff??"

And there is an even more interesting question that comes to mind, from a perspective of Jewish wisdom, which inspired this week's title.

OK, let's say I conquer anxiety, worry and anger, and I stop sweating the small stuff. 

The thing is, the small stuff is still there in my life, whether or not I'm sweating it.

The question is - would it be possible to do better than "not sweating the small stuff" - but to actually sweeten the small stuff? What do you think?

 

Shabbat Shalom

PS - If you want to learn a great secret to sweetening the small stuff, click on the image above. 

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