“What we call little things are merely the causes of great things; they are the beginning, the embryo, and it is the point of departure which, generally speaking, decides the whole future of an existence. One single black speck may be the beginning of a gangrene, of a storm, of a revolution.” ~ Henri-Frederic Amiel

It is so easy to dismiss the little things in life, to underestimate their importance and then to subsequently alter or even abort a massively important chain of events without even knowing it. Every big thing started as something small. Every collective movement started with one or two individuals and built over time to sway the masses. We see this very process playing out in the Middle East at the moment and it is hard to deny the power of little things, especially those which are properly timed and sufficiently cared for.

The little things don’t seem to carry much weight or import when viewed independently, just as your cells, considered outside of the context of the organ or system to which they belong, aren’t capable of doing much on their own.Consider them together, though, and the little things matter immensely.

Take a moment to consider the hundreds if not thousands of decisions you made over the course of last week. When to rise, what to eat, where to go, what to say, how to act and so on all came together to determine your immediate life experience and to lay the groundwork for what is to come. Rarely do you do anything that affects only you, so when you look at the cumulative effect of the long list of little things you handled you were without question a highly influential person.

The trouble is that most people don’t feel all that influential. They underestimate the effect they have on their own lives, let alone on the lives of those beyond themselves. Each individual plays an important role in the body of humanity, a fact that is made all the more evident when you consider how much a single individual gone rogue can influence the entire body. When this happens in our physical body we call it cancer, a loss of control that typically starts with one cell acting out of pattern. The good news is that this process goes both ways. Handle the little things consistently well, for example, and the positive, ordering and healing influence that your life brings has far-reaching effects.

My message to you this morning is simple. Don’t underestimate the importance of the little things in your life. Take care not to dismiss them as being bothersome, because you are busy with some supposed big thing. Make sure that you don’t overlook them while you are desperately seeking to land the big fish in your life. Recognize them when they come up. Handle them to the best of your ability and move on. Step by step, one by one you move onward and upward, preparing yourself all the way along to be in position for the big things that do come your way from time to time.