I realize that more and more as
time goes on. The little things in life
matter more than a lot of the big things.
The text to check on you after a friend knows how exhausted you’ve
been. The card that just says hi I miss
you. The hug that says Happy New
Year. The twinkle of a light on a
Christmas tree. The feel of an arm
wrapped around you while laying on the couch.
The handwritten note from a student saying I missed you. The angel for the top of my tree so I’d have
something on the top. The quote given to
me to tell me what I do matters. The
waking up to no alarm and no pressure.
Holding a plank for 10 seconds longer than the time before. The texts that just make you smile throughout
the day. The unconditional love of a
dog. The Thank You a friend says.
When the routine changes and the
schedule changes and things feel out of control, it’s the little things that
make a difference. It’s the people and
the things they do and say that matter.
It’s not things. It’s not
stuff. It’s not tangible.
It’s knowing that we matter. We matter to the people we love and that love
us. We matter to our friends. We matter to our colleagues. We matter to our families. Why is it so hard to tell the people that
matter to us that they matter? Why do we
think they will just know? We show it in
so many ways but we rarely think about saying it. Not everyone ‘speaks’ the same language of
love. For some, they need to hear the
words. For some, it’s the language of
touch. We need to make sure people know
they matter in their language. That puts
us out of our comfort zone if our languages don’t match. It makes the risk higher. Why is it such a risk to tell someone they
matter? To tell them what they do
matters. We can’t assume that people
know they matter. They might know they
matter and then have one of those days where nothing goes right and they feel
down. They sink and just a few little
words can make a big difference.
