It's the Little Things

It is, truly, the little things that make a difference.  Today was the first day of our Collaborative Training here in Annapolis at the Administrative Office of the Courts.  It was a really long and tiring day.  On the way back to the hotel, I thought I'd stop at DSW.  What could be better than that?  Finding the perfect pair of shoes.  Then finding out that they were 40% off.  Finally, I had a gift card I forgot about, so they were free.  All those little things added up to a great experience and a real mood lifter.  Let's contrast this to this morning at the training.   The first day is always hard; a little slow, but the momentum builds as the training goes on.  The microphones weren't working right.  Sometimes, they would work, sometimes they didn't.  First, they were too loud, then they were too quiet.  Kind of like a mosquito buzzing around and around your head, it was a minor thing that became a major annoyance.  It colored by view of an otherwise pretty good first day.
All of this made me think about our clients here in the Trenches (I know, doesn't everything?  I need a life).    Let's multiply those minor annoyances by ten, and you have most of our client's lives.  They're in a bad place, and every interaction in their lives feels like that mosquito.  Except they're on overload.    We're on overload too here in the Trenches, but not in the same way.  Sometimes, it's hard for us to remember that it really only takes one small positive experience to make that mosquito stop buzzing for a bit.  It doesn't have to be much: a quick phone call to see how they are; a sincere complement; a touch on the shoulder.  It is amazing how such little things can make such a big difference.  Kind of like finding those shoes.