Hello and happy Sunday Funday. [Blogged while watching How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days. Favorite movie. Best movie of all time.]

I’ve been MIA for a very long time because I started working a lot, and, like many Americans, stopped making time for things I like to do. But I’m here for a quick story to (hopefully) help you stop giving a flying fuck about things that don’t matter. Like when the DMV mails you a letter saying you didn’t give them enough forms of identification during your IN-PERSON appointment. Makes sense.

So the story begins when I received said letter in the mail and felt a rage inside my body. I MADE the appointment to go to the DMV. I filled out the pre-application. I waited three months to get in. I physically handed 47 pieces of identification to the employee, who I assumed knew what I needed to get a new license. Anyway. Anger. I felt anger. So I was just like walking around my house like a crank pot with a DMV-sized chip on my shoulder.

Then my brain went from stressing about my deadlines for the next day, to loathing all the dishes waiting for me in the kitchen, and finally to feeling sorry for myself over my knotted neck. Just stupid shit. Like, get over yourself Alyssa. Life will go on.

But…that’s the thing. For some people, it doesn’t. A few hours later, we heard news that a friend’s girlfriend was killed in an accident. Young girl. Like me. A young girl who was probably looking forward to marrying her boyfriend, having a family, exploring the world, making memories with her friends, and literally everything else we love about this life.

So, here I was being an asshole about minor inconveniences, while a family is grieving their unexpected loss. I’m not saying we’re never entitled to be annoyed at the dumb shit that takes up space in our head. You spilled coffee on your white shirt? The line at Dunkin’ Donuts took actually 25 minutes? (True story.) The shoes you want are out of stock? All acceptable reasons to be irritated.

All I’m saying is when those very small things barely impact your day, recognize the moments you become annoyed AF. Instead, take a second to be grateful for everything you have. Your health maybe? Your job. Your family. Your friends. I don’t know, fill in the blank. Sometimes, I even go so far as to feel grateful for something I hate doing. Like if I’m cleaning a toilet, I’ll say to myself, “You get to clean this toilet. You have a home with your own bathroom and you’re physically able to clean this fucking toilet.” Because you know what? There are so many people in this world who would die to have their own toilet to clean.

I’d like to take credit for my conscious commitment to gratitude, but it was a lesson I picked up from my beautiful black three-legged ninja prince. (My old dog, Jake.)

This life is so damn short. So rather than spending it annoyed, angry and irritable, take a beat to look around and admire everything and everyone you have, every single day. The good, the bad, the annoying.