Not long ago as I was going to bed I noticed a scratchy feeling in my eye.
Being a completely responsible adult and super busy parent/coach/spouse/friend, I put in some eye drops in and went to bed, assuming it would all be fine in the morning.
It was not fine in the morning.
I woke up to pain so intense I couldn’t think straight or stand up. Apparently sleeping it off is not a good strategy when it comes to something in your eye.
The speck I had noticed the night before had migrated to behind my eye.
Under normal circumstances, my husband would have been there to help me and get the kids off to school while I cried like a baby, like the adult that I am.
But this wasn’t a normal day.
My husband was en-route to New York City to see Bruce Springsteen on Broadway. (Yay for him…boohoo for the whimpering wife who wanted someone to rescue her from this ocular hell she was living.)
The pain was disorienting and all-consuming. I tried to stand up, but the pain was so intense I sat/fell back down.
Tears streaming down my face, I called my boys to wake up. As much as I intended to sound “normal” their panicked voices told me that my “YOU NEED TO GET UP NOW!” shout had the opposite effect.
Go figure.
Through my whimpers, I told them that I wasn’t going to be able to help them get ready for school because I was going to hang out upstairs (read: cry in bed). My oldest helped me text some neighbors to see if they had eye wash kits (eye drops were of no use at this point) and to see if anyone could accompany the kids to school.
I just kept thinking about how I WISHED I had been more attentive the night before when this little speck first showed up.
One friend drove to the pharmacy to buy me an eye wash kit. Another friend stopped by my house and walked my kids to school. And another friend came over and held my hands while we washed this speck from my eye. Within a minute the pain was gone.
The entire ordeal lasted a little more than 90 minutes. I had rallied my tribe to help me and my kids had risen to the occasion of being independent in the morning.
Even though this ordeal was just a little blip in the big picture of my life, I think about that little speck often.
It was a painful reminder that we often don’t pay attention to the little stuff until it’s too big to manage.
Sometimes, we let the little things go so long that they turn into big things.
Vincent van Gogh said, “Great things are done by a series of small things brought together.”
Yep. Sometimes it’s the little things that need our most attention.
And it’s all those little things that help us live our best life. Step by step to greatness.
Even if the little thing is just getting your kids to school effectively.
I’m curious: how can you give love and attention to the little things before they turn into big (ugly) things?
How can you listen to the little whispers – and act on them – before they turn into shouts?
My recommendation?
Stop. Take a breath. Check-in.
Is there something small that you can take care of right now and prevent it from turning into a speck that will bring you to your knees?
Is there a little whisper in your life that needs attention?
Want to chat about this small thing and how it can help you on the path to greatness? Let’s connect!
Love,
Jenny
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