the insignificant
It's not always in the grand gestures that love leaves its mark - the expensive gift, the grandiose display of affection, the flattering words. It is in the little things, like stopping what you are doing to listen, pulling your mind from wherever it is to give this one moment to the person in front of you.
I think of the way parents love their children. By providing for them, by rooting for them, by guiding them, by correcting them, by telling them they love them. But i wonder if the true success - or failure - of parental love will be measured in those fleeting moments, like when a daughter comes home and says "Hi" and you give her your undivided attention or you choose to go back to doing whatever it is you are doing. Or like when a son calls on the phone and you can make it short or pass the phone to your spouse...find a way to communicate to him how excited you are to hear from him.
In a relationship, most of the fights are constantly about the seemingly trivial things. Not enough phone calls, not sounding excited when you meet, not noticing the changes to their appearance, not putting enough effort in some way or another. You throw your hands up in the air and wonder why (insert gender) are so ridiculously demanding.
Maybe they are. But, maybe they are not.
It's the little things that matter, because it is in the little things that we reveal our heart. Not what we have intentionally chosen to show to the rest of the world, but who we really are when we think nobody notices.
I think of the way parents love their children. By providing for them, by rooting for them, by guiding them, by correcting them, by telling them they love them. But i wonder if the true success - or failure - of parental love will be measured in those fleeting moments, like when a daughter comes home and says "Hi" and you give her your undivided attention or you choose to go back to doing whatever it is you are doing. Or like when a son calls on the phone and you can make it short or pass the phone to your spouse...find a way to communicate to him how excited you are to hear from him.
In a relationship, most of the fights are constantly about the seemingly trivial things. Not enough phone calls, not sounding excited when you meet, not noticing the changes to their appearance, not putting enough effort in some way or another. You throw your hands up in the air and wonder why (insert gender) are so ridiculously demanding.
Maybe they are. But, maybe they are not.
It's the little things that matter, because it is in the little things that we reveal our heart. Not what we have intentionally chosen to show to the rest of the world, but who we really are when we think nobody notices.
Labels: life lessons
