Think small
“Don’t worry about the small stuff, and it’s all small stuff”. This well-worn phrase is meant to calm you down in times of stress and improve your outlook. I’d like to offer a deeper perspective. The world is made up of small things. In nature, the smallest building block is the atom. Atoms build molecules, molecules build compounds, compounds become liquid, solid or gas. The world starts small. That’s a critical point to fully comprehend how things work: understanding begins at a microscopic level.
Here’s another example: When you learn to talk, you start by uttering simple sounds. These sounds are combined to form words, words become sentences, then paragraphs, pages, books, libraries. See how it works? These elements, or building blocks, start small and then, through trial and error, we learn to group small things and build greater things. You can do this with every system under the sun: numbers become equations that grow into formulas that reveal math theorems, cells making up living tissue, which form organs, bone, and so on.
So what does this teach us? That everything great starts from something small. And as we build, we gain insight. This same process is evident if you want to master a skill. You start by learning the fundamentals. How do you master the skill of acting? First, you memorize a word, then a sentence, then a scene. But you have to understand the intention of the words, the motivation of the character to make the character believable. We don’t just fine-tune by repetition (the how), we approach mastery by increasing our understanding of “why” something works. Same process is employed to master sports. In order to learn how to wrestle, for example, you need to first understand leverage and balance. In the beginning, you learn a simple action, build up to a series of movements and finally acquire enough skill that you can accurately and confidently perform a series of moves. Along the way, you gain a level of confidence that allows for a winning game plan. Most important, grouping a series of actions together produces a result. Mistakes, corrected at the fundamental (or smallest) level, allow us to refine a behavior and gain confidence. We then group simple movements/thoughts into more complex action. Before long, this learned and tested behavior feels like “second nature”. That’s how small becomes big when mastering a skill.
Now here’s where it gets interesting: Our adjustments at the smallest level can influence future events. Take money for instance. One dollar can either be hoarded or given away. Hoarding teaches the aberrant behavior of greed. Giving it away teaches generosity. A word, spoken in kindness can make someone’s day; spoken in anger can initiate a chain of hurt feelings and even destroy trust. Mistakes, corrected become learning moments and lessons; repeated become a pattern of errors that twist our judgment. So today, I encourage you to think of the small things. Don’t worry about them, manage them, refine them, group them and build greatness upon them. Kindness, generosity and joy all start with a smile, a word, a reassuring hand on the shoulder. Think small and you’ll do great things. God built you to recognize the small things. He’s so much bigger than we are, yet He has His eyes fixed directly on us. He’s watching your every step and cheering you on as you figure out how to be great. And so am I! I’m so proud and confident in your abilities! Have a great day! Love dad.
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