Here we go Reader!
I have a theory that somewhere in this universe, there’s a beach entirely made of socks. Not a sock factory, not a laundry basket, but a sandy paradise where all the socks that go missing from our dryers are living their best lives. Every time I pull one lonely sock out of the dryer, I just assume its partner is sipping something fruity out of a coconut and watching the tide roll in.
Years ago, this would drive me crazy. I’d tear through every corner of the laundry room, under the washer, behind the dryer, in every drawer. I couldn’t focus until I solved the mystery. Now, I just laugh. The sock is gone, and life moves on.
And it got me thinking.
We let little things ruin our joy way too often. In life and in sports, the “missing sock moments” are everywhere: a questionable call by the ref, hitting every red light on the way to practice, or spilling water down your shirt before a meeting. The problem isn’t the sock, or the ref, or the traffic light. The problem is how much power we give those tiny frustrations. When we zoom out, they don’t matter. But in the moment, we let them take up space, energy, and joy.
Athletes do this constantly. One mistake can overshadow an entire game of effort and growth. I talked about this in my Benefits of Losing podcast episode, where I shared that failure and small setbacks can be some of the most powerful tools for growth. But if all we see is the mistake, the missed point, or the bad call, we miss the chance to learn and even to laugh about it later. Coaches fall into the same trap when they obsess over one drill that didn’t go as planned instead of seeing the bigger picture of progress and effort. Parents do it when they replay a bad play on the car ride home instead of embracing the joy of just watching their child compete.
The truth is, joy in the ride is not about perfection, it is about perspective. In another episode, Last Time You Had Fun, I explored how easily we let fun slip out of sports and out of our lives. We pack schedules so tight and stress so much about performance that we forget the real fuel comes from moments of joy — the laugh at practice, the silly team ritual, the shared story after a long day. Fun isn’t a distraction. Fun is the reason we keep coming back.
It reminds me of what I wrote in Back in My Day. We often romanticize or exaggerate the past, “I played three sports, I never missed practice, I did it all without parents watching.” But just like the missing sock, those stories are more about perspective than reality. They can trick us into thinking things were better simply because they are viewed through the haze of nostalgia. The joy isn’t in whether the past was tougher, or today is easier. The joy is in remembering to actually enjoy what’s happening now.
So maybe the sock isn’t lost. Maybe it just found a better adventure. And maybe we can all learn from it. Instead of giving little frustrations the power to ruin our day, we can treat them as reminders to zoom out, laugh a little, and focus on the bigger picture. This week, find one “missing sock moment” in your own life and flip it. Instead of frustration, turn it into gratitude, humor, or even just a story worth telling later. Because whether it is socks, sports, or life, it isn’t about the small stuff. It is about enjoying the ride.