Time is really not spent. It’s invested in a future that we can’t see yet. One guarantee in life is that the clock keeps ticking. You and I have no control over time, but we fail to see how sometimes the insignificant things can affect time. We fail to see how do we connect the dots in everything: the minute, hours, days, week and months that shape our future. If we connect the dots into what we’re doing that seems insignificant, we can really create a very great future.
Recently I was with a real estate agent looking at some homes. My husband and I are thinking about moving so I looked at some homes. While walking through the homes, we would go into the basement and the real estate agent would point out, “This house has good bones” or “This house doesn’t have good bones.” I thought to myself, “What do the bones in each of us look like?” We are housing some things a lot of people can’t see. If we think of our lives like that house, there are a bunch of things inside of me that the world doesn’t see.
Inside a house, there are support beams, heating and air, electrical wiring and water that many people don’t see. Hopefully, it is working. In our lives, if our “bones” are well-attended, we can be confident that we can have a really good go of it. But it is those hidden things that most people can’t see.
Society tells us that bigger is better: a bigger car, a bigger house, a bigger iPhone. If you grew up in the 80s and 90s, bigger hair. Bigger is better, but it’s not true. It’s the little things that are just as significant. A proverb says, “Elephants don’t bite, but gnats do.” It means that the big things in life tend to take care of themselves, but it is the little things that we do that either hold us back or propel us into a very good future. It’s the seemingly insignificant things that can hold us back or propel us.
Let’s talk about the big things in life that often get recognized: our raises, accomplishments, our name in lights, successes, achievement and degrees. But it is the seemingly insignificant things that really matter:
- how we deal with our losses
- how do we deal with our failures
- how do we step out of our comfort zone and begin to act brave
- how do we deal with discomfort
- how do we deal with illnesses and death
- how do we deal with setbacks
- how do we deal with conflicts in our relationship
- how we do the right thing when no one’s looking
Those are the bones and support beams that help us navigate through life. Those are the things that people might say are insignificant. The little things are super significant. The challenging times are the most important. Every choice that we make is an investment in the future we can’t see, and some people invest it wisely and some people invest in those things poorly. Let’s stop today and recognize the significance of the seemingly insignificant things in our life that will help us invest in the future and navigate life.
