It's the Little Things that Count

Life is busy and everyone is entrenched in their own little worlds with their own little worries.  In this era of electronic over-connectedness and personal under-connectedness, it is a simple matter for someone to fall into the background and...disappear.

Sometimes these disappearing people are fine and busy and living their own lives.  And sometimes they are hurting inside, seething, broken, scared, lonely.  The funny thing is that it is such a simple matter to give someone a feeling of being cared for, and yet how many of us think of these people regularly and reach out for a simple "Hello" or "How are you doing"?

Case in point, a coworker from my online workplace hadn't spoken with me for a while.  We don't work closely together, but we had some nice life discussions and I got the feeling from her emails and backstory that she needed a lot of support, and typically received little to none.  One day I was thinking back and couldn't remember the last time we had spoken, so I just jotted off a quick email to ask how she's doing and say I was thinking of her.

Time to write three-sentence email:  under a minute.

Feeling it gave her to know someone remembered she existed:  priceless.

Everyone needs to feel loved.  We all show love and feel love in different ways, but all we really want in life is warmth and love and security.  It's the little things that count, in this hectic world of over-connectedness which is really the epitome of loneliness.

Haven't seen a friend lately on Facebook?  Give them a call.  Coworker feeling down lately?  A short email saying you appreciate their hard work can go a long way.  Acknowledgement that a person exists and is not forgotten can literally save that person's life.

You never know when by reaching out you can change their life...or yours.