“OF CIGARETTE BUTTS AND OTHER IMPORTANT MATTERS”
I picked up a blog post along with cigarette butts this morning.
My wife and I are visiting friends of ours in West Virginia. Two of our friends were picking up trash for the Adopt-A-Highway Program, and I decided to tag along.
Almost immediately, I realized that I needed to make an important decision. Did I pick up cigarette butts or not? Given the fact that I am slow and not terribly well coordinated, I initially thought, “Nah, I think not.”
But then, I reflected that if everyone took that approach, it wouldn’t take very long at all before there were an overwhelming number of cigarette butts along the side of the road. Eventually, there would be so many butts that no one would tackle them. The butts would take over the world—or, at least, the roadside.
This leads me to a bigger issue than cigarette butts: the issue of little things in general. There are a lot of little things that I don’t pick up, or pick up on. There are little things that might help my physical health—or compromise it. There are little things that I can do to show my wife how much she means to me. There are also little mean-nesses that can harm our relationship.
Someone has said, “When I see how important little things are, I wonder if there really are any little things.” There is an ancient proverb that says, “He who despises little things will fall little by little.” Afraid so!
There is another saying that I have heard that reflects this same thought:
For the loss of a nail, the horse’s shoe was lost.
For the loss of a shoe, the horse was lost.
For the loss of the horse, the soldier was lost.
For the loss the soldier, the battle was lost.
For the loss of the battle, the war was lost.
Exaggerated? Maybe. But then again, maybe not.
So, today, I will ask myself two questions. What little bad things can I avoid? What little good things can I do?
I will answer by acting accordingly.
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