Don't Despise the Day of Small Things

An old proverb says “don’t despise the day of small beginnings”, and this carries 2 important ideas simultaneously.

First, there is a place for gratitude that must not be forgotten, because anything good that came into your life started small and grew into the goodness that can now be recognised. 

That goodness may have started with an affirmation, or gesture of care, or a good decision.

Second, the most destructive ideas and behaviours also started small before they became a problem behaviour or addiction. Gratitude helps us stay aware of the small but valuable attitudes that go to care – of ourselves and of others.

The destructive behaviours also start with small attitudes, usually negative and/or mis-informed attitudes, and so often allow a lie to be built into our reasoning …and lies never, ever work to our benefit in the long run.

​Gratitude helps protect us from the small lies before they become big problems. Yet real gratitude values honest evaluations to distinguish and separate good from bad, and healthy from unhealthy; this needs to be practised every day.