Well, this past week I was looking down into the holler toward Webb’s Creek thinking about how Michael Phelps reminded me that the “small stuff is the big stuff.” He won a potfull of gold medals and one of them by the length of a fingernail or just one hundredth of a second! The tiniest measured difference in any Olympic event usually separates gold from silver and bronze. Whether a special hi-tech fabric in a swimming suit or the length of a fingernail at the finish line Olympians understand that the small stuff is the big stuff. Even though the rest of us are not being timed and many of us only know how to dog paddle; the same rule applies to the human “race.” It’s the little things that really make a big difference. 
I remember the story of that man who was walking along a seashore covered with thousands of dying starfish that had been washed ashore. As he picked one up and threw it back into the ocean a stranger watching him said, “You can’t possibly make a difference here.” The man replied as he threw another starfish back into the ocean, “It made a difference to that one.” The power and impact of a small act of kindness cannot be exaggerated. Years ago I was speaking with a maintenance man who was nearing retirement. He spoke with pride and love of his 36 years with the company and how he had even once received a personal letter of thanks from the company president. That one paragraph letter was mounted in a picture frame and displayed in his home for over twenty years! It is time to officially proclaim that the small stuff is the big stuff.
Imagine a group of competitors training for four years, ten hours a day and on that final day in Beijing the only difference between being pictured on a zillion boxes of Wheaties or total anonymity was the time it takes to blink your eye. Who came in second to Mary Lou Retton or Mark Spitz? More recently..who came in second behind Michael Phelps in any of his eight gold medal events? Those names won’t even appear in a trivia game. Hundredths of a point in gymnastics and hundredths of a second in a swimming event make a world of difference in Olympic competition. Similarly, the huge difference between “awesome” and “okay” in our marriages, friendships and careers always comes down to the “small stuff.” Here are just a few examples of the many ways I think we can earn those life changing “hundredths of a point.” My logic is based on Michael Phelps, the starfish guy and the maintenance man.
Always open doors for your wife. Listen patiently as a small child speaks. Pick up that piece of trash along the trail. Do a bit more than expected at your job. Buy a box of girl scout cookies even if you are trying to lose weight and won’t eat them. Celebrate the differences in others including the fact that your wife never puts a lid or top back on any container of any kind. Hug your teenage daughter even if she is at that stage when she hates you for a few years. Don’t rush out of church. Try to be half as nice as your dog thinks you are.
If your dream is to win a gold medal in your marriage, friendships, job and daily living remember that the “Small Stuff is the Big Stuff.” Focus on the small stuff and you’ll find yourself one day standing center stage in a golden moment of warmth and appreciation. You might not hear our national anthem when you win this “gold medal”, but you will likely smile through tears of joy. Training begins at this very moment…one hundredth of a point at a time. That is just how it looks from my log cabin.
John LaFevre is a local speaker and co-author of the interactive national park hiking book series, Scavenger Hike Adventures, Falcon Guides, Globe Pequot Press. Contact John at scavengerhike@aol.com. Artist G. Webb lives in Pittman Center, Tennessee. Gwebbgallery.com.
