Big is little, little is big

"Everyone wants the big things in life — meaningful relationships, a great career and financial success. The secret to experiencing these big things is to make sure you get the little things right day in and day out."

Excerpt from a larger post about nuggets for success in work and life.  There is no shortage of these type of adages for sure, but every once in a while, something seemingly inane like this jumps out at me, and gets my brain gears clicking and turning.  This time, I had been ruminating along something similar for a while.  How it is that there is no big bang in life.  There is no big "A-Ha".  There is no thunder and lightning realization of what everything means, no big pot of gold, no blinding light at the end of the tunnel.  Certainly not when the years have rolled by, when time begins to be measured in decades.  What matters, is what happens every day, what you make of all the little moments that make up the big puzzle of life.  The little things.  

Choosing little things, and making those choices deliberately is what can make or break the "big" thing.  And over-focusing on the big thing will take away from choosing the little things to focus on.  And that's where you can get seriously caught up in a self-fulfilling prophecy of sitting around waiting for something big to happen, some big change to occur, some pivotal moment when realization dawns, or something changes, or someone changes, etc.

That is simply not going to happen.  People will not change.  Luck will not turn.  The moment will never feel right.  Yet, the only thing in your control is the here and now. And what you can do with it.  So, how about making it count?  How about just giving it your all, anyway?

Because these little things, done day in and day out, as if they were the only things that mattered soon begin to add up.  They begin to feel like the norm, they begin to define who you are, and what your life means.  

The little things.  What you read when you have twenty minutes to spare.  Who you think of when you want to be grateful.  What you decide to put in your body. Who you think of calling when you pick up your phone.  What you want to tell you child at the end of the day.  How you want to show up at work tomorrow.  What you decide you will learn today.  The books you choose. The friends you keep. The games you play with your children.  The battles you choose to pick.  The chores you share with your partner.  The games you decide not to play.  The pressures you opt out of.  

The little things.  Get these right.  Do these right.  Mean them, everyday.  Mean them anyway.  It's OK to not be perfect.  Of course, it is.  But know that it's the little things.  Always, the little things.