Big things make a big impact. Everyone knows that. But it's less known that small things can make or brake your day. Yesterday I had my birthday party, and I received some very special cards. I loved them all, and they all mean so much to me. But there was one card that wasn't very long, just once sentence. I loved it, but reread the big letters that made such a huge impact on me over and over again. Then I looked at the small letter again and saw something that I hadn't seen before. It was signed " In most sincere love".
The long letters mean so, so, so much to me. But the short letter means just as much because of the tiny touch my friend added to the bottom of the letter.
Sadly it can also be tiny bad things that can ruin someone's day. This is so hard for me, because if everything is going right and it's a good day, I still can be brought down by a stranger yelling in the parking lot or someone scowling at a kid.
People underestimate the power of small things. Hundreds and hundreds of times I've frowned at someone, or sighed at a bad time without really thinking about it. But just one frown can bring down someone's day. And a smile can lift them up.
So try smiling at the elderly lady in Walmart. Help the kid in the library grab his book from the top shelf. Tell the artist you've never met before that his painting is beautiful. Tell the self-conscious teenage girl in McDonalds that she looks amazing in blue.
Tell your best friend that she has a great sense of style. Tell your brother that you've never seen better handwriting.
I'm not going to pretend for a moment that I'm any good at the good small stuff, but I want to try harder. Hopefully other people will too.
