Have you ever sat down and taken time to imagine what life would be like if there weren’t the little things? By the “little things” I simply
HORSFALL LESLEY TOMBO OKORITE
mean the simple and little acts of kindness we’re shown everyday by those around us. Every ‘Hello’, ‘How are you?’, ‘Good morning’. Every ‘How was your day?’, ‘Are you okay?’. Every ‘I love you’. Even every smile. Imagine if none of that existed? Imagine we were forced to go through our day without all those little energy boosts, all those little sunshine breaks from the ‘rain’ known as life?
A world without the little things would also be robbed of the big things. What if Thomas Edison didn’t have the ‘little things’ his mother encouraged him with would he still have had the drive to try 999 times to make a light bulb? Or if Ronaldo’s childhood best friend hadn’t done something as little as letting him take the winning goal the day the scout came to their neighborhood football game, would he be where he is now as one of the greatest footballers on the planet? What if Serena William’s family hadn’t filled her aspirations with the little things such as words of encouragement, love and support, would she have been the world famous tennis player she is today? I could write an endless list on how the big things have been inspired by the little things but that would be way too much when I’m just trying to pass a simple message.
Why then is it that we show such ingratitude for the little things people do for us all the time? Why then is it that rather than thank and appreciate the little things that are done for us each and every day we scorn the things that adults do for us and proclaim them ‘witches’ and ‘wizards’? Why do we choose to be the ingrates?
An ingrate according to the Oxford dictionary is a person who shows ingratitude. So, every time we complain about the food here being terrible without remembering that there are those who have none. Every time we complain about scarcity of water for less than a few hours whilst forgetting there are people who need to make the hard and long trek to a river for any semblance of water. Every time you insult a hostel parent for simply helping you out when you are so obviously distracting yourself with your laptop. Every time we forget to be thankful for the ‘little things’ people do in our lives and instead being consumed by envy and want for the bigger things in life. Every time we forget to be grateful for the smiles, the hugs, the ‘How Are You’s’, the ‘I Love You’s’. We choose to be ingrates.
Now I understand how hard it is to be grateful all the time when life seems to just continue to pelt us with hardships and obstacles. However, we have to remember how life would be without those little things. We have to remember that the little things pave way for the bigger ones and that truly, ingratitude is the mother of all sins.
Lesley Tombo Okorite HORSFALL
Class of 2026