Small Stuff Matters

Things that Went Right Today:

1) Bought the domain name I wanted most!!! Yeah!
2) Puppy finally learning to use the pads (mostly)
3) Loving the "couch to 5K" app for my iphone!

We've all heard the phrase, "don't sweat the small stuff." I wholeheartedly agree with this. It's a philosophy that I strive to live by. No sense letting life's little worries get you down. In the grand scheme of things most of them won't end up mattering much anyway. Focusing on the good makes life way more fun in the present and keeps us aiming in a positive direction for the future. That's why I write a blog about thankfulness right? But today I'd like to say a word in praise of the "small stuff" that DOES matter. Because I'm finding that seemingly insignificant things can have a huge impact.

Case in point...my dishwasher. Many months ago for reasons unknown one of the wheels on the lower rack fell off. Could be that the kids were too rough when pulling it in or out? Could be that someone stepped on it while climbing onto the counter. Could be the dog chewed it off. Will never know for sure. The truth is buried completely in denials as it so often is. But in any case it broke off. Would have made sense to have it fixed right away, but who has time to worry over things like that when the dishwasher works fine otherwise...so we forgot about it. Didn't sweat it. The lower rack rattled some, but basically worked ok even though it was slightly off balance. Not too surprisingly with it's unstable tracking another wheel broke off a few weeks later. Then another and so on. We still sort of ignored it, even when we were down to half the normal number of wheels. It was just an insignificant detail. Sure it was harder to move the rack now and this bugged us while loading the thing, but otherwise it wasn't worth worrying over. My son does the dishes so for many weeks I gave it nary a thought at all. Until the dishwasher stopped getting stuff clean. The dishes were often coming out looking dirtier than they went in, and so I finally investigated only to discover that there were no operable wheels left at all on the lower rack.  It was sitting directly on the spinner so it could not rotate and therefore not clean the dishes. Hmmm. Guess it was finally time to deal with the wheel issue. Called the repair company and ordered new wheels, and we hand washed for a week or so while waiting for the new parts. This was kind of a novelty at first and a fun time to talk with my kids. But with 9 of us living here right now it became burdensome pretty fast. We dirty an awful lot of dishes to put it mildly. My hands were beginning to look and feel like the Sahara Desert. The long awaited day arrived and the wheels came in the mail. We joyfully went to install them only to learn that although they had sent us the wheels, they had failed to send the little clips that secure them into place. To be fair I hadn't ordered them specifically when talking with the gal on the phone...but I guess I assumed they would send me all necessary parts to go with the wheels? Grrrr.  So now we're waiting again...still hand washing...for the silly little clippy things that have no name that are essential to secure the wheels, which are essential to the proper function of the lower rack and thus the entire dishwasher. My family has been thrown into a dishwashing frenzy and spent countless hours up to our elbows in soapy water, all because of a small little part with no name that I ever even knew was there before. It's a little thing. When it's working as it should you don't even notice it. But it's clearly a pretty crucial element in the overall system.

Think about your computer keyboard if the "R" key was missing. The rest of the keyboard could be in perfect working order, but it would be worthless just the same without that one key. Or try making cookies but leave the sugar out of the recipe. Yuck! Or type in an email address missing one number. Doesn't work does it? There are many examples, but the point I am making is that while we should not sweat the small stuff...we SHOULD respect it. Give it it's due when deserved.

Sometimes people feel like small stuff too. We think we are insignificant compared to the glory that others seem to merit. That maybe we aren't that important in the grand scheme of things or have little to offer. Others seem to have more beauty. Or more talent. Or more fame. Higher position. More friends. Sometimes we feel like that tiny little dishwasher part...slogging along doing what we do, without any notice or respect. So this is hats off to the little people.  The ordinary people who make this world work every day. We all matter. A family feels incomplete when one member is away. The quarterback cannot get the glory without the lineman doing his job well. I am "just a mom", but I think what I do every day benefits the world. Training my children to become hard working, moral, good citizens. My work  certainly matters in the lives of the 9 people put in my keeping. I am not famous, or noteworthy in any particular way, but I matter. And so do you! We all do. I am thankful this day for the regular folks. We may never have the same recognition or rewards as others for our labors, but our society is indebted to regular people nonetheless. And I'm thankful to know that as an ordinary woman, the things I do and think and feel can have extraordinary impact even still within my home and community. Small stuff matters!!!