Little Things

A tentative drop of rain touched my arm. I’d better hurry, I thought, or I’ll be caught in the rain. I held a People magazine in my hand. It had been delivered to my house by mistake. I knew that the intended recipient would want this magazine since it chronicled the life of Queen Elizabeth. The correct destination was only a block away. After many years of dealing with incorrectly delivered mail, I still couldn’t understand why the mail sorter person often made this mistake. The house numbers were the same, but the street names had no similarity.

A small speck of something in my shoe aggravated my foot as I hurried up the sidewalk. I ignored it for a few more steps before deciding to stop and remove this small irritation before it created a bigger problem. I balanced on one foot and shook my shoe. Nothing fell out. I put my hand into the shoe, and there was no speck of anything stuck in there. I rubbed the pad of my foot and found the source of the irritation. It was a tiny shard of glass with a speck of red blood on its pointed tip. I slipped my foot back into its shoe and continued on my way, keeping  this piece of glass in my fingers until I returned home and could throw it in the trash. Paying attention to a small thing had avoided a bigger issue.

I wonder how many times I ignore little things and let them fester and grow bigger. Sometimes the little irritations go away—but not usually. Little weeds in my garden are easy to remove before they extend long roots into the ground and become harder to remove. If I don’t pay attention, the potato with a rotten spot will destroy the whole bag.

Little things are important. On a positive note, a quick smile or a kind word may be a little thing to me but can be of more importance to the one who receives it.

I resolve to pay more attention to the little things.