It is the small things that matter in life. It is often the things that we do or say in our day-to-day lives that have a large impact on those around us.
(Published in the Spiritually Speaking column of the Daily Guardian on November 30, 2020)
We all want to do great things in life! It is human nature to want success, contentment and happiness. What exactly constitutes these things varies from person to person. Some want good health, wealth, fame, harmonious relationships and the list goes on.
Everyone on Earth must have wondered why they are here. We all feel like we have a ‘mission’ of some kind to do something big, important and significant in the world. Humans by nature generally crave excitement and this we believe will come from something big. A huge announcement or a huge event that will suddenly change the lives of billions. But reality is different. In the end of days, we will see that it is the ‘small’ things in life that are actually the ‘big’ things from the divine perspective.
Let me share with you a story I read in one of the several books about near death experiences (NDEs) that I have read (I forget the exact book, but I remember the story).
There was a lady (let’s call her Martha) from New York City who worked in a large advertising agency. She had a few degrees and was an academic topper throughout school and college. Martha worked as a senior executive and had a six-figure annual income. All the things that most professionals strive for. But luckily, she still retained a compassionate nature. One day, her colleague lost her husband to cancer and did not come to work for a few weeks. A few weeks later, the colleague came back to work but was depressed and lonely and sat and cried on her chair. When Martha was leaving office that evening, she noticed the colleague crying and gently walked into her office and softly put her hand on her colleague’s shoulder. She didn’t say a word but just the energy of compassion and consideration she exuded was enough to make her colleague feel a lot better and she actually stopped crying and smiled.
A few years later, Martha had a cardiac arrest. She was rushed to the hospital in an ambulance, but her heart stopped for a few minutes. She was declared clinically dead, but somehow in a few minutes her heart started to beat again and she was alive again. She recounted an amazing story!
When she ‘died’ she left her body, went through the tunnel, saw dead relatives and was shown a life review by a being of light. Surprisingly to Martha, the ‘significant’ events of her life were not related to the degrees, the designation or the salary that she got. The significant events of her life were related to the so-called ‘small’ things she did. In this life review she was shown and re-lived the moment described earlier when she comforted her colleague. This was something that Martha had actually forgotten about, but in the eyes of God it was one of the most significant moments in Martha’s life. For, it was a moment when she acted compassionately towards her colleague and gave her solace and hope. In that moment of reliving, Martha was actually made to feel the joy and comfort that her colleague felt. That, in itself, was a rewarding feeling. Martha returned to her earthly life and shared this story with the world.
Each one of us has our own such moments in our lives when we may have said something kind or did something compassionate to make somebody else feel better. It is moments like this which God considers important. Never underestimate your capacity to have a significant impact in the world. By doing these small things in our daily life to those that we encounter in our lives we are making an impact in the lives of others and thereby our world.
Great souls like Jesus Christ who come to our world from time to time give us an idea through their lives about the importance of humility. God chose Jesus to be born not to a king, queen, prince or princess but to a humble carpenter and his wife. Jesus was not born in a castle or palace but in a humble manger. A manger is a place where hay is put to feed animals. So even the place of birth of Jesus was in a place of service. This is a symbol of truth that on earth we are here to serve one another through love and compassion.
In his bestselling book, Atomic Habits, James Clear talks about how small things done repetitively over time makes a huge impact in the end. He gives the example that a flight taking off from Los Angeles to New York City has to change its heading by just 7 feet south and it will end up in Washington DC. A small deviation in direction multiplied over time will end up in landing in a place 365 km away. This is the way we should look at our thoughts, words and deeds. We do not need to do ‘big’ things to have a long lasting and ‘big’ impact on the world. Just doing random acts of kindness and paying forward the good things is enough. But they need to be done consistently over time.
Whether we know it or not, whether we accept it or not, the truth is we are all in the same boat together. We are on this small planet at this particular moment in history for a reason. It may not be the exact reason that you have in mind but in time it will be revealed to you. God is a God of small things. It is the small things that matter in life. It is often the things that we do or say in our day-to-day lives that have a large impact on those around us.
In today’s trying times, the world can use some goodness. You have that power in you. Nothing you do for someone is too small. It is more important to consistently do acts of love and kindness over time than to do one big act once in a while. When we keep doing good things, they become habits and having a habit of doing good is the best habit to have. Be God’s love. Be God’s light.