the Little Things

My backyard is lined with trees, and occasionally I have wildlife in my front and back yards, including turkeys, deer, rabbits, birds, and an occasional skunk.

Sunday morning, my grandson was in the passenger seat of my car when a large doe went running across the backyard from one fence to the other and disappeared into the woods. I pointed to the deer and asked my 13-year-old grandson if he saw it. He replied that he didn’t because he was looking at his phone, sending texts to his friends.

But then he looked up and said, “Oh yeah, I see it.”

I replied, “Well, it’s already running into the woods.”

He said, “No, there’s a little deer head behind the big tree in the backyard.”

When I looked up, indeed there was a small head poking out, and after about 30 seconds, a young fawn scampered out and ran toward its mom in the woods but paused to look up when I started the vehicle.

We don’t always see everything that happens in front of us, and sometimes we take for granted the things that run across our path or come our way. Unless we look up, we even miss the small things.

Today, find a chance to look for the little things in your world that make a difference to you or that you can do to change a person’s life in the moment. Consider some of the small things you can do that might make a difference:

• Say thank you when you buy something at a convenience market or grocery store.
  Say a kind word to your mail carrier if you’re getting the mail as he or she puts it in the box.

• Greet a teacher, coach, neighbor, or even a stranger with a kind word of appreciation or a smile.

• Watch birds more often.

• Cook something for somebody.

• Set up an appointment with your therapist for yourself.

• Learn to trust somebody a little bit more.

• Use affirming words with a colleague you may take for granted.

• Be kind to the employee behind the counter when you’re returning your over-purchased retail items.

• Be accepting of your own faults without beating yourself up all the time.

• Let somebody over in traffic instead of speeding up.

• Call a relative even when you don’t feel like it.

• Celebrate victories and holidays more often.

• Thank your doctor for something.

• Rub your pet’s head.

• Send a text without asking for something.

Sometimes the little things mean more than you realize.