Even When No One Else Notices

My brother has begun training for his 50th marathon. His goal was to run a marathon in each state, his last one will be in Hawaii. When I read this quote from Van Gogh it made me think of all the steps my brother has run in order to reach his goal. The travel, the training, the long hours of running in order to fulfill his goal. Each day it was small things that made it possible for him to do such a great thing.

I know I forget that. Small things are what really matter. The simple, basic, routine things of life that build together to create something special. No one runs a marathon, wins an Olympic event, or even sends a kid to college without the small things. No one hosts Christmas dinner, changes jobs, moves into a new home or even picks a flower from their garden without having done a lot of really small, often overlooked, little things.

The little things are not the sexy, exciting, social media viral post topics. They do not make great conversation starters, unless you are talking to people who can appreciate the small things. The little steps we take to get where we want to go are often done alone, late at night or in the wee hours of the morning. They are completed out of commitment, perseverance, a willingness to go slow and build strong, AND they are done when most people give up. It is the days you do not want to do those things that are the days when big things are built. The small things are often tough, not because they are small but because they seem insignificant…when in reality they ARE the reason big things get done.

So today enjoy doing the small things. The laundry so you can look great during that big meeting. Exercise so you can sleep well and be healthy. Eating good food so you can live a long life and have time to reach your goals. Reading that book, writing that paper or proposal, creating that work of art, or running yet another mile so you can finish that marathon in state number fifty. It is the small things that make the great things possible…so three cheers for the small things, and hooray for you for doing them even when no one else notices.