I love the little things. You hear everyone say it, but I really mean it. Especially after last summer. Take it from me that time is of the essence and I appreciate moments. I love spending time with the people I love. Quality time is definitely my love language. I have come to realize that some people just don't understand how important the little things are. Maybe they don’t realize the impact far beyond the little thing. There have been many moments where this was brought to my attention, but one stands out and has stuck with me since.
For example, I was in a class two years ago where we took turns bringing in coffee for our professor so that we could have a group quiz. When it was my week, I took him his coffee one class early because I had him for two classes in a row. As he walked into the classroom that week, I pushed the coffee toward him and said, "This is yours. It's a bit early, but I figured I'd give it to you now." He proceeded to tell me he had to watch his grandkids the night before and was in dire need of the coffee. He was so grateful. Even though the coffee was expected due to the agreement, I never realized that maybe he would actually need the coffee.
This fact happened to be brought to my attention, but think of all the times you have probably done something that had an impact (positive or negative) on someone and you probably didn't even know it. I often find myself being impacted by others by the littlest things. I think it is important to tell these people because how much better would the world be if we could be more conscious of the impact we have. I know the point should be that we should do good even when we don’t know the impact. Unfortunately, sometimes people don’t realize that the littlest thing could have a negative impact. And that's where it gets tough. It reminds me of that saying that you never know when someone is struggling so treat everyone with kindness. You never know when the little thing you do could mean the world.
So let that someone know the impact that they have on you. My freshman year of college I had a hard time making friends. I was involved with the Newman group on campus. Around the time my sister got sick, I was at Adoration with a group of friends. We were being walked through a prayer process in which we were supposed to pick one emotion we were feeling. He mentioned the idea of having a hard time and that’s when the littlest thing made the biggest different. My friend just put her hand on my shoulder. I became friends with her later and 2 years after the story, my sister got healthy. I texted my friend and told her how that gesture that day made such a big impact on my life. She had told me she didn’t necessarily remember that little thing (but did remember the day), but was glad she helped in that moment. That moment still sticks with me today.
So just make sure you think before even the littlest things. Maybe it means nothing to you, but it probably means the world to someone else.
