How often do you not do something because it’s “just a little thing” or did you ever not donate a dollar to a charity because that’s all that you could spare but you felt that “a dollar won’t make any difference”? Did you ever think about someone and think “I should send them a note” but then think that they wouldn’t care and you just don’t have time?
Let me ask you – what didn’t you have time for yesterday? Do you ever stop at the end of the day and look at what you didn’t do because you “didn’t have time”? What if there is no more time? What didn’t get done that would have made a difference in someone’s life?
I have often encouraged people to donate as little as a dollar if it’s something they care about. For me, it’s St Jude Children’s Research Hospital and one thing they do with their fundraising is break down the cost of things. I know the Food Banks and Feeding America (another of my favorites) do that too – “$10 will provide x number of meals”. I think this is great because it let’s people know that “no matter what you can donate, it will make a difference”. Often we are so wrapped up in our little worlds, that we don’t see that if 100 people just donated one dollar that would be one hundred dollars and that can provide something special and useful. When you think of things like cancer or hunger, you tend to think of the big picture which can be overwhelming but try to bring it down to the individual level and you’ll see that your $1 might make a difference when married up with several other people thinking and doing the same thing.
But this isn’t about fundraising. It’s about doing the little things but doing the little things that will make a difference. I got this thought when one of my friends said his mother was going to be 100 soon and he was trying to get 100 birthday cards. Of course I volunteered. What difference will my one little card make to someone who doesn’t even know me? Probably not much if I just look at it from my little bubble. But if 99 other people do this one “little thing” it will make all the difference in the world to two people. How could I NOT have time for that? That became my priority for today and so that I didn’t lose it in the mass of “important” things on my “agenda”, I put the card on the top of my daily routine stack. It became item number one that I did today so that I would get it done and in the mail. You know how much time it took? 2 minutes, maybe a max of 5 between finding a card, writing in it, addressing the envelope and going out to my mailbox. FIVE minutes and yet it has a chance of being part of something that will make someone happy. Wouldn’t you say that’s the most important thing you can do today – and yet it’s “just a little thing”
How many of these opportunities do you miss each day, either because they are little and pass under our “busy” radar or because you think they won’t matter? If you told the check out person at the grocery store how much you appreciate them and that you are grateful that they worked so bravely through the pandemic, I bet that would make them feel really good and you never know, they might just need that today.
Let’s try to get a bit out of our busy world and think of one small thing you can do for someone else. Can you send an email and say “hi” or a text or just talk to people when you’re out on your walk. Two weeks ago when it was in the 20s here in San Antonio, i ventured out on my walk and saw this guy who’s also always out there. I had stopped to take a picture so as he walked by I told him he was a die hard or something encouraging like that. I’m sure that made him proud that he was out there doing his daily exercise. I helped him feel good about himself. And it was just words. They don’t cost anything.
What little thing are you going to do this week (see, i eased up on you, i didn’t say “today”) that might make a difference in someone else’s life, either by itself or in conjunction with lots of other people you don’t even know – and don’t have to know.
Maybe I wrote this because I’m little.. who knows..just do something
