A small paper cut still hurts. A small pebble in our shoe can annoy us. A small paperclip holds a lot of paper… A small match can light a BIG fire. A single kind word can lift our spirits. Deb Koffman, artist, blogger
With a few simple examples, Koffman captures the dual persona of “small things.” Are they important? Are they insignificant? Are they beneficial? Are they harmful? It often depends on how a person sees life.
Richard Carlson counsels, “Don’t sweat the small stuff.” Mother Teresa advises, “Be faithful in small things because it is in them that your strength lies.”
The Bible also acknowledges that in many ways, large and small, humans determine the value of their actions. “He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much; and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much.”
Albert Eistein continues this avenue of thought. “Whoever is careless with the truth in small matters cannot be trusted with important matters.” An Estonian proverb says, “Who does not thank for little will not thank for much.” And Brother Lawrence advises, “We ought not to be weary of doing little things for the love of God, who regards not the greatness of the work, but the love with which it is performed.”
We’ve all been stymied by nitpicky minutiae, times when we’ve been admonished to dot every “I”and cross every “t.” Those of us who work in the news industry understand that if we misrepresent even the smallest detail, our whole effort is called into question. Attention to detail is a must.
I don’t like True/False tests. I never did, not as a student, not as a teacher. As a teacher, I thought T/F, though easy to grade, difficult to compose. And every time, I encounter such in a magazine as a means to evaluate health, beauty, sensitivity, whatever, I am reminded of one high school history T/F test.
One question read: “The Roman Colosseum would seat over 2,000 people.” Everyone in class, including me, circled True. The teacher marked our answers incorrect because, as he had lectured, “The Colosseum would seat over 20,000.” No matter how much we protested that 20,000 is over 2,000, he would not budge in his evaluation.
Recently, I read in National Geographic that the Colosseum would seat over 50,000, a fact contradicting the teacher, the history book, and any value in T/F tests. My long lasting remembrance of the incident certainly was an insignificant irritation, but it, as much as any education lesson I studied, dictated my respect for my students. When I made a mistake, and all teachers do, I tried to listen to my students. Hopefully, even if I wasn’t always right, I was always fair.
Although I think there is much wisdom in Carlson’s advice about not wallowing in the trivia that can complicate life with worry, I appreciate Mother Teresa and many others who recognize that most of life is lived in small acts that make life worth living.
Self-help author Napoleon Hill adds, “If you cannot do great things, do small things in a great way.” British author Gilbert K. Chesterton observes, “One sees great things from the valley; only small things from the peak.”
I appreciate my first cup of coffee in the morning as I write; I appreciate the glowing rays of an evening’s sunset as I clean the kitchen; a kind word; an unexpected call from a friend. I like a certain amount of routine to my day, but I try to be open to change of plans at a moment’s notice.
“It’s not going to college and setting up a dorm room that makes you an adult, but the discipline of showing up for class and studying for tests. It’s not the wedding ceremony that makes you a married couple, but the daily commitment to stay in love,” says Melanie Shankle, author of The Church of Small Things. She also quotes Vincent Van Gogh, “Great things are done by a series of small things brought together.”
Think of a painting, any work of art, whether by Van Gogh, another famous artist, an amateur or yourself. It doesn’t just happen. It requires countless steps and paint strokes, hours of reworking and attention to detail. So does living.
2019
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