Growing up in my house, there was always something going on. Having five older siblings and my parents living in a three bedroom house meant that there wasn’t much alone time. Everybody was always bothering each other. So when some of us were able to get a small bit of quiet time, we normally chose to do something that didn’t involve our siblings.
My quiet oasis was a small corner in my living room, hidden behind the couch beside the floor vent that always blasted either frigid or blazing hot air. I always loved picking up a book and sitting in silence while delving into fictitious worlds full of magic and dragons, but there were days when I put those away and picked up something different.
The first time I picked up one of the many Calvin and Hobbes comic books that we had lying around was the start of something great. I wasn’t always old enough to understand a lot of what was being said in the comic strips, but when I was finally able to fully comprehend them, I appreciated them for being even more than just being pictures of fun shenanigans and adventures.
One of my favorite quotes of all time comes from the creator of Calvin and Hobbes, Bill Waterson: “Know what’s weird? Day by day nothing seems to change, but pretty soon everything is different.” After hearing this, I had to sit down and really think about how true that statement actually is. I never think about the small things that affect my life, but that’s the same for most people. Take a hike for example. You don’t normally stop to appreciate the sticks that have fallen from trees that you have to step over, or the boulders that have dropped off the cliff and fallen into a pile. What we appreciate is the very end of the hike when you have reached the destination. Those other things, like the sticks and the rocks, were just there. But what if they weren’t? If the sticks hadn’t been there, your friend might not have tripped over them, and you might not have spent a minute or two laughing with him or her. If the rocks had not been there, you might not have stopped and taken a short break to sit and catch your breath. We need to remember that each small thing in our life has a purpose, and it shapes who we are and where we go. We just might not realize it.
We meander through life without a second thought and never take time to think about how everything became so different than it was before. I mean, how did we get to where we are now? We took small steps that slowly but surely brought us here. If we don’t appreciate all of those little things that contribute to our present state, pretty soon we’ll realize we missed out on what was actually most important: those seemingly insignificant events, like a spontaneous bowling trip with people you met 15 minutes earlier, a pick-up game of sand volleyball or even just a short conversation with the person sitting next to you in the library. Personally, all three of those events have changed my life. I met people through each of those activities that are still in my life today. The event that you deem insignificant might have one of the greatest impacts on your life. You shouldn’t necessarily only focus on the small events, but we should always take them into account when we look back to see how everything has changed.
Needless to say, I feel as though everything in our life happens for a reason. God places these small things, like sticks on the trail or a game of volleyball, in our life so that we can appreciate everything our life has become. He chose the trivial to become the extraordinary, and just like that, we need to take what we think are the trivial events out of our life and make them extraordinary. So always remember, even though it might just seem like you’re having a bunch of ordinary days, pretty soon you’re going to look around and wonder how you got there.
