Sandcastles...I mean sandholes…

Little failures hurt big successes...

If you are not willing to work hard on the little things in life, then the big successes will never come. Changing the paper towel roll when it is empty, putting the toilet paper roll on correctly (always flows over the top - never under the roll), picking up clothing, keeping your phone screen clean, learning new things every day, etc. (you add your own to this list)

The little things sound like they should be easy, but this is where most people fail miserably. They figure that the little things don’t really matter all that much and they just let them sit or don’t worry about them. 

“The little things aren’t going to get me to my big dream!” 

“The little things are just a pain!”

“The little things just eat up my time!”

Oh, those little things - what frustration they bring to our lives! The sum of them adds a lot of work to my day. 

They are not a pain, not eating up your time and they may be the key to your big dream.

If we keep working hard at the little things in life, we get better at them, then we get better at the bigger things they add up to, and then, all of a sudden, our dream is right there in front of us. These dreams don’t have to be huge dreams, like becoming the number one tuba player in the country, or being able to build the Empire State building out of spaghetti noodles (cooked, not raw - that would be easy), or, even the biggest of dreams - being able to have a guest spot in the Muppets movie, with Beaker. 

The dreams can be little dreams, like being successful in your job, being a good Mom, helping a teen get out of the crowd they shouldn't be in, becoming an encouragement to three more people everyday, stopping that bad habit you have, building the confidence to speak in front of a group - the list goes on.

The thing is, you have to start with the little successes to get to the next steps in life. Someone may see you finish the small stuff correctly and that may open up a door for you. You may be so successful at the tiny item that the next item becomes easy to you. The little thing may teach you some lessons that help you in the next bigger thing. The small things help you build upon the other small things and then they add up to much bigger things. Did I use the word “things” enough in that paragraph.

When I started my first real job, I wanted to be the best grocery carryout boy in the whole store, so I ran with my carts, as I returned to the store, from helping a customer unload. When my boss saw me, he offered me a promotion to the “pop” aisle (coke or soda for some). While I handled actual glass bottles of soft drink, I developed the talent of catching falling bottles with my feet, before they broke - a little thing. I was moved to the cereal aisle (huge jump - missed the bread aisle, the meat counter and produce wrapper). I kept taking care of the little things, like fixing shelves, filling stock completely and cleaning my isle. Next tour of duty was Front Specials - I had gotten to the holy grail of the whole grocery store for part-time employees - the pinnacle - top of the ladder - you understand. That whole story sure made me feel old, but the little things got me to the big dream in that store, as a teen.

Those little things built up, just like the picture I have today that started as a small sand hole and grew to the final product that could fit a VW bug in it. The constant little digging got to the end result, and along the way you had fun with the hard work. Proud of my girls for their diligence...small sob, little teardrop rolling...

Lessons Learned: I have to take life one little step at a time. I have to trust in God's timing and plan, but do what I'm supposed to do each day.

Thoughts: What’s the hard little thing that you need to get good at, right now?

#failalot