Little Things

Something that never fails to amaze me is the effect we can have on another person - whether it's good or bad. And most of the time we don't even realize when we really touch someone's heart. The smallest action can be the catalyst for big changes.

For some reason today I was thinking about a blog post I wrote a couple months ago about how much it meant to me when my older brother reached out to me. Not because he means more to me than my other siblings or I don't absolutely love that my older sister calls me daily, but because it doesn't happen very often. So when I get a call or a text from him just to see how my day is treating me, it makes me, well, giddy. Sometimes I forget to remember how much he loves me. It's amazing what we can forget if we aren't reminded every day.

And when I wrote about him it came from the heart, which made it better than just another blog post. A girl on my triathlon team I didn't even know read my blog came up to me a few weeks later and said that post made her realize she rarely reached out to her little sister. And now she calls her almost every week. I can't even describe how good that made me feel. Just knowing my little post made someone's life a little better.

The other day Chris wrote a blog post about how I've changed him for the better since we started dating. About how I make things possible for him that he never thought would happen - like doing 9 triathlons, a marathon, rock climbing, a marathon, etc. It's not like purposely came into his life with this goal of changing him for the better, but when two people who are as right for each other as we are come together, great things are bound to happen.

There are a couple days in life that I'll always remember. And guess what? Most of them are the days where someone did something truly little, but truly great for me. I don't remember any specific day of my first part time job - except one. An elderly man at my register told me I had the sweetest smile he'd seen in over ten years. He didn't say it in a creepy way, it was almost like an after thought. It took so little effort, but I still smile when I think about it.

I don't remember much about my Intro to Comm class I took first semester last year, but I do remember walking to it one day a guy came up to me at a stoplight and said I was the prettiest girl he'd seen on Comm Ave all day. Then he kept walking. I couldn't wipe the smile off my face all day. It was better than a thousand presents and million dollars, because it was just nice.

What if something like this happened to each person everyday? Imagine how self confident we'd all be.

Makes me wonder how many people I've changed without even knowing it. And whether it's in a good way or bad way. I think these days we're so caught up in our busy schedules that we forget what little things like that can do. It makes me regret every time I didn't return the smile of someone on the street, or held the door open, or offered my seat on T, or actually said something when I really liked a person's outfit or hair or smile.

What if that could have been the one little act of kindness that the person would remember the rest of their life?

Little opportunities for change like this happen everyday, you just have to recognize them.

love love love,

me