The Amazing Power of Small Steps

It's the small things in life that can drive you loco on any given day, isn't it? (yes, I see heads nodding!). Like the batteries dying in your garage door opener in the middle of the mother of all rainstorms. Or the birdfeeder that makes a mess on the back patio. Or the leaky bathroom faucet. But it's also the small things in life that seem to make it all worthwhile. A hug from a child, making a new friend, a beautiful sunset, getting something on sale, hearing from a far away loved one. It's a normal tendency to think that life is made or broken by the BIG things in life. It's easy to sit around and complain about how life sucks, and wait for the knight (or princess) to show up, or the magic pill, or the lottery win that will make life better. But the truth is (drum roll, please) -- life is made up of very small steps. Think of all the small steps in your own daily life. Like how many individual steps it takes just to get dressed in the morning (turn off alarm, get up, turn on lights, turn on shower, etc). Or the many small steps to prepare dinner. You get the idea -- seconds turn into minutes, into hours, into days, into a lifetime. Still not convinced the small things contribute to BIG RESULTS? Ok, what if you decided to read just 30 minutes each day? At the end of 365 days you have read 182.75 hours. That's 7-1/2 full days nonstop 24 hours a day! The same is true of anything. Save just $1 a day and you'll have $365 at the end of the year.Christmas money! Clean out one drawer each day, and at the end of the week you'll have Spring-cleaned the kitchen. Throw out or box up just ONE THING you no longer use each day; at the end of the month, you'll have a nice donation. Eat just 200 calories less each day, and at the end of the year, you will have eaten 73,000 less calories, an equivalent of 146 pounds! Write one page of your life story, and at the end of the year you'll have a novel! Clean out one closet, pay off one credit card, set up one system, return one thing borrowed -- it all adds up. The idea is to think about your life in individual small steps instead of "outcomes". Begin to look at what you are doing only TODAY. Begin to imagine your life like a daily planner, and you can't see the next page. . Does that mean not to plan for tomorrow? Absolutely not. In fact, just the opposite. What it means is that what you do today, the small things, each choice or non-choice, will add up to your tomorrow. A well lived present will equal a wonderful future. All those small steps are moving you towards tomorrow, but with your eye right on the road in front of you. Paint a little, write a little, sing a little, laugh a little, save a little, clean a little. Whatever you want more of -- or less of -- in your life, do a LITTLE today!