Monday, March 21, 2011

A Little Thing

Last week I was up and out of the house early to drop a couple pieces of mail in the mailbox a few blocks from my house. I was looking ahead to all I had to do that day—not much of it pleasant—and as a result I was already in a gloomy mood. I was steeling myself for the day.

I parked the car and walked to the mailbox, and as I dropped the mail through the slot, I heard a cheery “Good morning!” I turned—on the off chance this happy voice was addressing me—and saw a man, maybe in his late sixties, heading for the same mailbox. Mail in hand, arms swinging, he smiled broadly at me. I replied with my own “Good morning!” and headed back to my car. Grinning.

We didn’t have a conversation at the mailbox, nothing more than a smile and a “Good morning” passed between us. But that man made my morning. And he got me thinking. Maybe if we realized that one smile or a couple of kind words could make such a difference in someone’s day, we’d be more willing to sprinkle those smiles and words around.

There are times when we feel we have nothing to offer. We’re drained ourselves and don’t have a drop to spare, or maybe we’re just in the kind of mood I was that morning and don’t see why we should spare a drop. I wonder what kind of day that man was facing. It might not have been any better than mine. It might have been worse.

It was such a little thing, but here I am, days later, thinking and writing about it.

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8 comments:

Ingrid said...

:-)

CB said...

That's so true! Just think of the impact such a simple gesture can have. Amazing.

Karin Kaufman said...

Thanks, Ingrid and Cynthia. I often think about what little effort it takes to make someone's day, but my experience at the mailbox that morning reaffirmed the idea.

Brenda K. Hendricks @myquotesofencouragement said...

God has been showing me the significance of little things too. I have a tendency to think the things I do are too small to matter. Thanks for sharing the importance of a smile and friendly greeting.

During the last snow storm, I blogged about small things on My Quotes of Encouragement If you have a moment, I'd be delight for you to visit and leave a comment.
Blessings, Brenda

Karin Kaufman said...

Brenda, I agree with you about the significance of little things. I think the effects of a little thing we do or say can be like the ripples created by a small pebble dropped in a pond--traveling farther and having greater consequence than the pebble itself.

I really like your blog, by the way. Thanks for letting me know about it.

Terri Tiffany said...

My husband and I have been trying to smile at everyone we see-not an easy feat as we have a ton of reason not to but we have found when we do, what a difference it makes to us and the other person seems to really really like it. A good lifter of the mood:)

Karin Kaufman said...

Terri, just a smile is so important. You never know, you may brighten someone's whole week with that simple act.

Karin Kaufman said...

By the way, Terri, I love your blog!

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