8 Minute Memoir, Day 5: Little Things

I am a big believer in the little things.  The smallest opportunity can make someone's day, turn someone's mood around.  That old adage about never knowing what other people are going through comes to mind here... you never know what a glance or a simple word can do.

Take my job, for example.  Retail management, a very customer service oriented position in an upbeat, vibrant, and positive environment.  People from all situations and all walks come through our doors, and I feel fortunate to have the chance to brighten people's lives, even if only for a moment.

Story time:  on Christmas Eve, I had a customer come to the register to check out who seemed obviously worn out.  She was friendly, and over the course of our short chat, I learned that she and her husband and kids had just moved into their house the previous day, after closing on the property in August.  It had been quite a journey for her and she was, to say the least, wiped out, exhausted.  I couldn't even imagine what it would be to move with small kids the day before Christmas Eve, but she and her husband had made it happen despite obstacles.  She allowed me the gift of conversation, a window into her experience, and I?  I wished her good luck with a hug and a small, but beautiful. bouquet of flowers--and the look on her face said it all.  It was almost as if she was awakened by our brief interaction.  I felt lifted by it, too.  One of many, many examples why I love my job and treasure why I do.

I thrive on the little things at home, too.  Tom and I have a system, an agreement that has fallen into place after years of living together, that one of us will cook and the other will do the dishes.  If I know he is going to take a shower after me, I'll put a dry towel on the rack so he doesn't have to get out of the shower and grab one from across the bathroom.  If I go to bed before he does, he very often if not always whispers that he loves me when he, too, finally settles in.  There are countless other examples of things we do for one another, these small tokens and instances building up to form a mountain of goodness.  There are those huge, monumental moments that matter, of course--but the little things, they provide that steady wave of love throughout the in between.


"Life is made up, not of great sacrifices or duties, but of the little things, in which smiles and kindness, and small obligations given habitually, are what preserve the heart and secure comfort." 
--Humphry Davy