Perspective

You may remember some time when you were younger, and you lost a quarter in the grass. You may have searched for 15 minutes, half of an hour, maybe a whole hour. Chances are, you did not find your pursued prized possession. (If this never happened to you then think of a small toy you lost and looked for...)

If you searched for 15 minutes, and found it, you aquired $1/hr. The national minimum wage is $7.25/hr.
Basically: It probably was not worth your time looking for it.

Now you look back, and probably do not care that you lost a quarter.

If, when we're 80, we  look back on some of our biggest disappointments in life, (totaled car, dead dog, etc.), they're such a minuscule things! We should see them as small things, and the sooner we see that after it happens, the better (in most cases).
Easy to say, and hard to do.
It's hard to keep the right focus when you feel that the situation is hopeless, but if you remember that in a few years, it won't matter much (depending on what it is), it can help to keep in focus
But we should not be passive on earth. Our primary purpose here is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.

The last half of the last verse of This is My Father's World ends this post quite nicely...

This is my Father's world,
why should my heart be sad?
The Lord is King, let the heavens ring!
God reigns, let the earth be glad!