People’s worries are endless. “My mother didn’t love me.” “I try to do too much.” “My husband isn’t attracted to me.” “I’m a success but I’m still alone.” “I can’t leave my house.” “So and so at work avoids me.”
Jerry Seinfeld and a comedian pal were riffing about what happens during most psychotherapy sessions. They speculated on the best advice the therapist could offer, concluding the best response a therapist should usually give at the end of a session was, “Snap out of it!”
Andy Warhol supposedly said that sometimes people let the same problem make them miserable for years when they could just say, “So what?”
The vast majority of most lives will be boring and not noteworthy. It’s normal and it’s okay. So “Snap out of it.” might be good advice. Or maybe try similar ideas like: move on, so what, or just drop it.
Marcus Aurelius said that you have power over your mind but not external events. If you can abide by that, you’ll be able to go through life less perturbed.
Not everyone has the privilege of saying “Snap out of it, move on, or so what?” in every situation, but changing your perception about things you have little control over is a powerful tool.