It's the small things that matter

We do a lot of things every day. Some are Big Things. Important Things. Most are small things. Many of these things are actually More Important Things than we care to think.At a four-way stop, do we wave another car through ahead of us?Do we smile at and thank our cashier at the supermarket?Do we hold the door for the person behind us?The things we do that help other people and not ourselves are an indicator of our character. There are days when we're simply in a hurry or we're in a really bad mood and we just can't even. That happens. That happens to other people, too.There's a difference between doing the Small Important Things and being a pushover. But does being a pushover on things that really don't make a huge difference in your life really matter?It's how we treat the people we perceive we don't need that really matters. How we treat the people who don't have any power over us and aren't related to us, aren't our friends. How we treat the people who work for us or who serve us in some way.I'm not even talking about Random Acts of Kindness or Pay It Forward. I'm talking about common decency. Do unto others, and all that.We are at our best when we care more about others than about ourselves. We don't always have to be that way - it's OK to put yourself first. But when it doesn't really affect your life, think twice and wave that person through, let that person check out first, or round that tip up to the next dollar instead of down.Be good to each other.Photo by Barry Silver via Flickr Creative Commons.