Small and fruit bearing !

The lime tree and the guava plants are small, but both of them are fruit bearing! They both exist in our garden.

I receive this as an invitation to life!

Let small acts of goodness be our gifts to others.

When I received and offered new year greetings yesterday, I was reminded of the value of focussing on small acts of kindness.  

Mrs Vijaylakshmi, a psychologist who worked at ASHIRVAD Child Development Centre, Chennai in  1996 would send us a Christmas and new year greetings every year since then. 

I was in the final stage of submitting my thesis for PhD when she joined our team. She offered me considerable help in cross checking the data and proof reading! This made all the difference in the final stage of the research project. Vijaylakshmi was happy to have been requested to help and felt encouraged by what she was able to do. 

It is this memory perhaps which makes her remember us. Anna and I too remember her for her invaluable work by helping children, who visited us with their learning related difficulties. 

I wonder whether we belittle small things. Mother Teresa once seems to have said, 'We can only do little things but with great love'!

I listened yesterday to the interview, the Prime Minister of India gave to the TV channel ! There were many good things he referred to. Those who analysed his interview in the TV show mentioned that he was 'absorbed' by big things and 'small things' do not seem to matter to him.

Small things always matter. The hippocampal area in the brain where amygdala occupies a tiny space is the nerve centre of most of human memory!

All small things are significant!

Let us look forward to be part of many small events and experiences and doing many small acts of  kindness to ourselves and for others in 2019!

M.C.Mathew(photo and text)