The flowers of late winter and early spring occupy places in our hearts well out of proportion to their size.
Gertrude S. Wister
Winter can be cold and harsh, long and drawn out, and so can various pockets of time in our life. Life is not easy but it is definitely meaningful and it is with that spirit that the proportion of things we feel changes in size.
Little things matter. They matter a lot. Matter more than we could ever possibly conceive.
A kiss on a sore knee of a child tells them that everything will be fine because the magical properties of that kiss are proportionally larger than the reality of the hurt they feel.
Little things matter and we should not hesitate to give them away or count ourselves lucky to be amongst them. Little thank you’s when someone is kind enough to open the door for us. When someone is there to listen to our complaints and when they are there when we don’t think our work matters and are overwhelmed with the daily grind of living.
The flowers of early spring and later winter, tiny though they may be, and insignificant when compared to the full colour and stature of their summer counterparts, are perhaps most important. The little things that matter occupy a place in our hearts far greater than our degrees, wealth, and reputation.
At the end of the day we get to decide what matters and why it is important.
One of my greatest possessions is a cheque. The bank account has long been closed and the person who held that bank account is long gone. But this little piece of paper occupies a very special place in my heart. It has a little scribble on it. It is my dad’s scribble. As he lay dying, he tried to sign his name one last time. He only managed a letter, if that, because he was in the trawls in the coldest winter of his life, right in the middle of summer.
Little things matter. That little scribble means more to me than many of the things that surround us, and that is how life is meant to be.
So don’t lose sight of the little things and don’t ever think that the little things you do every day don’t really matter. They matter and are disproportionally contagious.
So you just keep doing what you are doing. You just keep being who you are.
Do little things very well. Focus on the tiny things in your life.
Lend a hand. Smile. Open your arms and receive others in an embrace. Bite your tongue. Avoid gossip. Encourage people to try again. Tell them that it’s all going to turn out in the end. Be a little flower that breaks through the snow and offers the slightest hint of spring.
Be a little flower. Be a person of hope. Be proportionally aware of all the wonderful things springing up all around you. Be proportionally aware of what great value you hold in other peoples hearts.
