Don’t Miss the Small Stuff

Let’s define the small stuff.  It’s not the flippant, unnecessary trivia of life.  It’s the multitude of actions and effort driven by  thoughtfulness, caring and sharing.Too often life zooms past us so quickly that we miss the small stuff, or we are so preoccupied that we don’t notice the small stuff.  And the small stuff is really the important stuff. Case in point.  I read a story on the news yesterday about a photographer who was boating and took some incredible pictures of a whale swimming gently on the surface beside another sail boat for several minutes, long enough to shoot eight photographs.  The owner of the boat, sitting almost within arm’s reach of the whale, failled to even notice him because the man was engrossed in his cell phone texting.  Or there’s another story about one group of boaters who were enthralled by the migration of monarch butterflies to their winter destination, multitudes, millions filling the sky.  Another group of boaters when asked their reponse to this said that they had been looking straight ahead and hadn’t noticed the butterflies at all.  Can you say tunnel vision?

If you’re racing through life on your daily routine, realize that in one split second, everything can be redefined for you outside your scope of influence.  So take a minute for the small stuff.  Write a thank-you note and send it in snail mail; order a bouquet of flowers for a friend’s birthday, take a meal to a sick friend or relative even if it comes from Fresh Market.  It will mean the world to that person.  Today I received a Get Well card from friends of friends out in California of all things.  How special was that!

Be grateful for a good night’s sleep, a hot shower, putting on your socks,  preparing your own breakfast, reaching down to get the clothes out of your front-loading washing machine,  or walking outside to get your paper.  Think about being unable to drive your car, vacuum your house, walk with a cup of coffee, or sleep in your own bed.

Note to self:  The small stuff is the big stuff, and regrettably it takes a crisis to make us notice.