One of life's best coping mechanisms is to know the difference between an inconvenience and a problem. If you break your neck, if you have nothing to eat, if your house is on fire, then you've got a problem. Everything else is an inconvenience. Life is inconvenient. Life is lumpy. A lump in the oatmeal, a lump in the throat and a lump in the breast are not the same kind of lump. One needs to learn the difference.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Distinguishing between minor annoyances and real crises helps manage life better.
- In plain terms
- Know when something is a real problem versus just a bother.
- What can you take from it?
- Separate real problems from inconveniences.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- Is this a problem or inconvenience?
- How do you react to lumps?
Another view
What seems minor to one can be major to another.
More from Robert Fulghum
To insist on one's place in the scheme of things and to live up to that place. To empower others in their reaching for some place in the scheme of things. To d…
Permalink to quote #7 Love the battle between chaos and imagination. Remember: Acting is living truthfully in imaginary circumstances. Remember: Acting is the way to live the greate…
Permalink to quote #9 My convictions have validity for me because I have experimented with the compounds of ideas of others in the laboratory of my mind. And I've tested the results…
Permalink to quote #6
Related quotes
In the meantime, it just makes it a little harder to smile. But so does the world.
Amy GoodmanAmy Goodman quote #3 Don't take life so serious, son, it ain't nohow permanent.
Walt KellyWalt Kelly quote #3 To me, life is tough enough without having someone kick you from the inside.
Rita RudnerRita Rudner quote #4