What is the point of doing something if you can’t even notice that it’s been done, right? How will we assess our progress or feel that we accomplished anything? We are taught to go big or go home…we strive for personal glory. And, we want it now! More so now than ever, we live in a fast-paced world where a meal is only a drive-thru away and we work through the night to get results tomorrow. Then, shortly thereafter, we walk over the mess and wonder why it’s crumbling. Society teaches us that convenience is greater than patience. But has it shown us that this is really true?

There are many sayings that point out that, once upon a time, men and women thought the opposite was true. We still see examples of it everywhere. Things that took time or slow, methodical actions were once considered insignificant but history has shifted. In nature, it is the tree that grows the most slowly that is the strongest. It is the tree that burns the longest in the fire and is the choice selection for building structures that last. The tree does not grow noticeably, even over the course of years, because it is growing to be worth something.

An insignificant move thousands of years ago has cost hundreds of thousands their lives. If you’ve ever been to Sunday school, perhaps you remember the story of how Jacob fed his brother a bowl of soup in exchange for his birth right. Not very smart on Esau’s part; in addition, the Arabs and the Jews still kill one another to this day because of that disagreement. You see, ‘insignificant’ cannot be used interchangeably with ‘unimportant’. The things that we do daily that seem insignificant have the abilty to build up to a huge result over time. Mahatma Gandhi is famous for the quote, “Whatever you do will be insignificant, but it is very important that you do it.”

We accomplish small, insignificant things every minute, every day. They are insignificant and, therefore go unnoticed. However, it is these small things that build us up and drive us a tiny bit closer to our goal. Doing something every day that may appear insignificant keeps the larger picture in mind by addressing the fact that the details must be worked out in order for the whole to be accomplished. The kind of person we become is just as important as the actions we take. While it may not be the most fun or the most rewarded thing, it’s vital. Gandhi realized that it’s more about doing the action because we have the freedom and the ability to do it. Many places today, sixty two years after this man’s death, still don’t have the right to the simple freedom we take for granted. It’s important to exercise our beliefs and our rights. Most of our actions for good causes will never make it to Fox News or CNN, but in order to prove our character and our uprightness, we do it anyways. Likewise, when reviewing all we’ve done to complete something, we can usually point out what path we followed and what actions we took to give us a boost up those step. However, many things are overlooked and forgotten. Do these things anyway…they’re important.
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