The Little Things
Personal Growth, professional developmentWork is done at such a fast pace these days with a great degree of emphasis being placed on getting the work done and turning out a quality product, and less focus on co-workers and who they are outside of the work place. Yet if we took the time to get to know one another, while we may not become lifelong friends, we just may find that we share more similarities than differences.
You can learn so much from just observing people. It’s surprising how many little acts of kindness can be seen. For example, I am a martial artist and while waiting for instruction I have frequently noticed how much extra time the aging instructor spends (without being paid for it) with children that aren’t his own. He does it because he recognizes they need encouragement and as a result throughout the years he has become a dependable figure in their lives. In these cases, he provides more than instruction in the martial arts but some good lessons about the little things, like caring and the importance of the individual.
As we daily go about our work, we can offer others an opportunity to learn more about how important even seemingly insignificant acts may be.
Life is filled with personal, professional, and spiritual challenges. Quite often we have to search for the little things in order to find them because random acts of kindness aren’t always right in front of us. Yet the key to finding the little things is to do just that…search for them.
Random acts of kindness expressed with a smile can do more to lift your day as it also lifts the spirits of others. While work is important, it should not be so all consuming that there’s no time to pay attention to the little things–to acknowledge others and smile as you walk by. These little things don’t cost a cent but they say more about who you are than any title you may hold.
By Roy DeBrule
