Sam Radford

March 3, 2022

Little things

Sometimes the big things in life are beyond our control.

Take 2022. We entered the year full of renewed hope and expectation.

Then, barely a week in, my wife got ill with what was more than likely Covid.

She’s not been back in work since.

She’s getting better. Slowly.

But it’s fair to say this isn’t how we hoped the year would go.

And then Russia invaded Ukraine. And threatened nuclear war.

Sometimes you just want a break from it all!

But all of that it outside of my control.

There is something I can control though. And that’s the little things. The things that, though small, add meaningful improvements to everyday life.

Take tea. I love tea! I drink three or four mugs most days.

My wife got me a special mug and infuser for Valentine’s Day, along with a bag of real tea leaves. And so I’ve been drinking proper tea these last few weeks.

There’s something about making tea properly. It’s a little thing, but it elevates the experience. Tea leaves, a nice mug, milk in a jug—it all makes an every-day thing a tiny bit more special.

With everything going on around us, it feels like we’d all benefit from more of these kind of little things.

Maybe switching from dunking a tea bag to making tea properly isn’t something that would elevate your life, but find something that would.

And do that.

It might only be a little thing, but lots of little things all add up.

—Sam

Got some thoughts on this? I’d love to hear from you—do hit reply or drop me a note.

About Sam Radford

Husband, father, lover of books, writer, tech geek, sports fan, and pragmatic idealist from Sheffield, England.