Little Things

I got a nasty flat tire today. I was looking at a rough change too in the rain and mud. It was then, however, that a local resident showed up to lend a hand. In fact, he put on the spare without much help from me at all. He only asked that I return the favor one day while I shook his hand and promised I would. He reminded me too about the difference between an ordinary life and a great one. The difference isn’t money, success, education, fame, or power. It is instead the little things we do everyday with love.

The difference is stopping on the side of the road to help someone change a tire. It is opening a door for an elderly person. It is mowing a sick neighbor’s lawn and picking up their groceries. It is listening to someone as they tell you their problems. It is bending down to pet a dog, scratch a cat, or talk to a child. It is saying, "please, thank you, your welcome, and I love you." It is passing on a few kind words, an honest compliment, and a bit of encouragement to those around us. It is taking a few moments everyday to say, "I love you God and I thank you for my life." It is saying a prayer for a friend and doing all you can to help God make that prayer come true. It is doing what you are able, with what you are given, to make this world a bit more like Heaven.

It is little things like these that make our days good and the world better. It is little things like these that make our hearts swell and our spirits sing. It is little things like these that put the life in living. To paraphrase the wise words of Og Mandino in his book, The Greatest Miracle in The World, "Do all things with love: love for yourself, love for others, and love for God." If you do your life will be greater than you could ever imagine and this world will be a more wonderful place because you are in it. If you do people will smile around you, Heaven will smile down on you, and your soul will smile within you.

~ Joseph J. Mazzella ~

[ by: Joseph J. Mazzella Copyright © 2008 (joecool@wirefire.com) -- submitted by: Joseph Mazzella ]