Little Things Matter
I’ve mentioned a time or two that I work in a library. It’s not my dream job, but I like it. Right now I’m in the middle of withdrawing a bunch of old books, which means a lot of monotonous stamping and tearing out old circulation card pockets.
The funny thing about tearing out those old pockets is that, because the college is almost 90 years old, you never know what’s behind the pocket holding it on. For some, the glue is all powdery and they just pop right off. For others, the person applying it was a little heavy-handed with the glue and it’s basically fused forever. But one, while I was working on it, made my day.
As I pulled the pocket off of this book I noticed something different about it. The glue had been applied in the shape of a smiley face. This isn’t too significant in itself, the shape of the glue didn’t help hold the pocket on better or worse. It didn’t serve any function. In fact, the person applying it couldn’t have known if anyone would ever see it. But I did. And it brought a smile to my face in the middle of the monotony.
As I continued working I thought more about that smile and the person who put it there. I don’t know who they are. They probably don’t even remember doing it. But still, it showed me something of their character and made a difference in my day.
Our culture concerns itself a lot with recognition and attention. But often it is the small things we do when no one is looking and no one will ever notice that make the biggest difference.
Everyone sees the home run on game day, but nobody sees the years of practice that went into making that a reality. Everyone sees the books on the top of the bestsellers list, but no one sees the hours of late nights and early mornings that made it a reality. Everyone applauds the person who resists massive public temptation, but they never see the million acts of integrity that lead up to it.
It’s the little unnoticed things we do that often make the biggest difference.
So, where can you step up your game? Where can you put something extra into your work that will bless someone else, even if they never recognize you for it? Where can you make a difference, even if no one will ever see or applaud?
