The Power of the "Little Things"

I have decided that there is a lot of power in the little things that may not seem very important...

It was several years ago that I worked in Spokane, Washington at Finch Elementary School. I had started working at this school my freshman year of college as a way to make a little bit of extra money to help pay rent and tuition. My job duties at this particular school took me to many different classrooms and assignments. It wasn't long before I came to find a favorite classroom to work in...Mrs. Berger's second grade; however, no matter where it was that I liked to be, this was not always the place were I was always assigned. Most often, I would find myself scheduled to work in the learning lab. It was in this place that I would usually file papers, grade assessments, organize information, as well as a lot of other things that weren't as meaningful to me as working with students.

In was in this lab that I soon became acquainted with the dreaded "IN" box.

Now, to explain why this box was so horrible, you need to understand that this box of tasks was on the filing cabinets right next to the table that I worked...I think it was there so I could get to my work easily. I have to be honest though, I hated this box, simply because no matter how hard I worked, and no matter how empty it was when I left at the end of a day, the next day it would be completely full again and I would feel overwhelmed. It seemed like it would never end.

One day when I got to my desk to work, I grabbed the top few items from the box and sat down at the table where I usually worked. I then began to do the assignments. However, as I took the top page of test results that I was supposed to file, I noticed a bright orange sticky note on the page.

I sat there for nearly a minute, just reading and rereading over that simple little message that one of the lab teachers had written. There was no name of who had done it, and as I looked around the room, none of the teachers even seemed to be aware that I was there...but someone was aware. I looked back at the note. As I did, something changed inside of me...that "in" box didn't seem quite so unfriendly anymore, and the jobs that I had to do didn't seem so hard either. It was all from the simple fact that somebody--I don't know who--noticed me...a young college student who was there every day, whether or not he liked it, and appreciated what it was he was doing.

It was Margaret Lindsey who once wrote:

The little things are most worthwhile
A quiet word, a look, a smile
A listening ear that's quick to share
Another's thoughts, another's care
Though sometimes they may seem quite small
These little things mean most of all

There was so much power in that little orange sticky note, a note I put into my planner and have saved for all these years. I have come to realize since that time that it really is these simple little things we do that can make the biggest difference in the lives of people around us.