“The most simple things can bring the most happiness.” ~Izabella Scorupco

It’s often the simplest things that have the most profound effects on our lives. It’s also often the case that those simple things—especially if the effects of doing them are not immediately apparent—are the ones that get put off most regularly.

Flossing, for instance, is not difficult to do but the rewards are great. It keeps your teeth in your mouth, for crying out loud! And yet good chance most of you reading this post right now did not floss your teeth today. Why is that?

I think it’s because it’s also easy to skip. It’s not obvious. It’s a little thing, after all. You can’t always immediately see the benefits of little things. One day’s workout produces no results that are apparent. So why not put it off a day? What difference can it make?

Besides, “I’ll get to it tomorrow,” becomes the daily refrain. Until, of course, it’s too late and you’re sitting in the dentist chair bracing yourself for yet another root canal. You see, little things neglected often snowball into much bigger and very costly things.

Holding hands is easy, but it’s also easy not to. The simple, easy things often make the biggest difference.

This malady affects us in so many other parts of life as well: It’s easy to read, but how many books have you read lately? It’s easy to make a phone call. But how often have you acted on the impulse to call an old friend or grandma or dad? It’s easy to smile. But how many times did you intentionally smile at a stranger this week? Writing a note is easy too. But how long has it been since you wrote a little note of appreciation to your spouse, friend, parent, child, neighbor, mail deliverer, anyone?

Life is made up of lots and lots of little things. Each one may seem inconsequential when it’s isolated from every other one. But add them together and it soon becomes apparent that the very quality of our lives is the sum total of each little thing rolled into one giant thing called living.

So make the conscientious decision today to start doing those easy little things a bit more regularly. You’ll soon start to see them roll together into a much better life.

How easy is that!