The small things can make a difference

If you’re going bankrupt, facing a terrible medical diagnosis, or have just come from a funeral, this might not be the best message for you.

Then again, maybe it’s just for you.

The small things in life can make a big difference.

I have a chair, a beautiful chair, but it’s hard. I can’t sit on it. I find just the right pillow. Suddenly, it’s a different chair. Usable.

Comfortable. It looks different.

A different animal.

It’s wonderful.

What made the difference? Just a pillow.

I have a photo, poster or sketch. It’s unframed. I get it framed, just right. Suddenly it’s a piece of art. It uplifts me. It’s a quiet inspiration or a subtle piece of beauty.

The difference? Just a frame.

I love peaches, but they’re out of season; I love certain cookies, but they’re out of stock. (For peaches or cookies substitute that favorite cut of meat or type of cashews, seltzer, wine or rice.) Surprise: Today it is back in stock, back on the shelf.

A delight.

What made the difference? A couple of bucks.

Take unexpectedly cool summer weather, a surprise sale on a CD, a visiting lecture by an expert, a comeback victory by “my” sports team. The small things can make a difference.

A small bonus.

A compliment from someone I respect.

A nice sweater that lasts a couple of seasons longer than it’s supposed to.

A vanishing sunset.

Snow without ice.

Banking without hassle.

An offer without a gimmick.

An annoyance that disappears.

A return phone call from someone I’d given up on.

An organizer that organizes, not just reshuffles, my stuff.

A corner of a dead flower bed that miraculously comes to life.

Small things make the difference for less than $100, max. Usually, much less than that. Often, less than $5.

To live in a house takes hundreds or thousands of dollars a month. To enjoy the house may take an additional, tiny slice of that. An exquisite welcoming mat. A great shade of paint in the entryway. A perfect wall hanging.

To drive a decent car takes thousands or tens of thousands of dollars. To enjoy it — its heating and A/C vent slants just right — costs nothing. A small thing, a huge difference.

A vacation out of the city requires expensive flight tickets. A flight scheduled to leave just one hour later may eliminate a harried, pressured start and transform the entire vacation.

Small things: a little thicker napkin, a wise piece of advice, one piece of high quality chocolate, a swimming pool one degree warmer, a swatch of resplendent fabric, a short cut.

Small things: a joke, a word play, a line of poetry, a swift, brilliant essay, a phrase that captures it all (“Ford to City: Drop Dead”), a Yogiism (“I really didn’t say everything I said”).

Big things like salary, status, health, safety, are often beyond our reach. When we speak of “fate” and “justice” and “acceptance” we often refer to events so far beyond our own initiative that life seems arbitrary or amazing. Either way, we are reduced to sitting back and watching. The small things — which we usually can control — add spice, excitement, immediate joy, surprise, laughter, vulnerability or love.

“If the world were perfect, it wouldn’t be,” said Yogi.

Copyright © 2013 by the Intermountain Jewish News