It's the little things that matter

As this year rolls to an end, these last 4 days present us with a great opportunity to reflect on the entire year: expectations met and expectations left dangling, promises made and promises received, gifts taken and gifts given, pleasant surprises and unpleasant ones, successes and failures, and best of all -- the memories.
Yeah. The memories. 

image: suhanijain.com

See the quote in the image above? It says -- Enjoy the little things in life, for one day you will look back and realize they were the big things.

And it's very true. Though this year has been a very short one; I remember Jan 1st 2013 like it was a month ago. Yet, it has been filled with lots of memories for me. Lots of events. Lots of weddings. But the things I remember vividly are the special moments I had, and they are all the little things. My boss telling me he doesn't know what it would have been like without me, that I do what no one else in the company can do and that I give life to his ideas. I felt like Superman and Batman combined. Even remembering it makes me feel extremely special. That day, I had helped out with building from scratch an application that saved us money and headaches, and he took me out for lunch to celebrate. And he said it without the slightest intent of making me feel good about it; he said while thinking back, loudly, on the turn of events. He didn't event notice the effect on me. It was a little thing.

I helped a US analyst on a small job. It was a very small job; took me about 10 minutes to complete. But he was so impressed with the job and paid me more than what we agreed. It was a little thing. But it changed my life. It gave me the courage to take up jobs I wasn't sure I could do. And spurred me on to starting a registered Business Consulting firm.

A friend, Imisi, invited me to collaborate on a fiction series. He is a much better writer. Every time I read his blog posts, I see what I want my writings to be like someday -- strong and perfect. I had a tough time convincing myself that I could write anything worthy of being put up on his blog, but he kept encouraging me and telling it wasn't a big deal, that I could do it. He helped me all the way, and the result was beyond me. But the part that touched me was his introduction of me (you can read it here, Terminal 8: Crime Pays). It was like Albert Einstein calling someone else a genius. I had to read it twice to be sure that I was seeing right. Then I read it a third time. I thanked him for it, but to him, he was just saying his mind. It was a little thing. But it gave me one of the best memory of the year.

The other ones are very personal. But they are all little things too.

And you? Has it been the same for you?