Peter Middleton

Sometimes it’s the littlest things that have the biggest impact.  

When I was starting out as a teacher, I worked at a school where the Headmaster was a prolific writer of handwritten notes.  One lunchtime  in my first term at the school, we got chatting about my forthcoming challenge of running the Edinburgh marathon.  

A few months later in the week building up to the marathon, an envelope appeared in my pigeon hole in the staff room.  It was a handwritten note from the Headmaster – accompanied by a rather fine ink drawing of a runner pounding the tarmac- wishing me luck in the marathon.  I was touched that he had remembered the conversation we’d had all those weeks before, and had taken the time and trouble to provide such a beautiful and thoughtful note of good wishes.  It was a little thing but it meant a great deal, and  I’ve never forgotten the impact this had on me as a young teacher.  Being recognised, encouraged, and remembered; it really made a difference to me.

Ever since, I’ve sought to do likewise, taking the time to thank colleagues, write birthday cards for staff and pupils (as a school of 500 we’re small enough for me to be able to do so), and at our weekly Headmaster’s Awards – Forte – I make sure to write a handwritten, personal note of congratulations.  It may not seem like much, but I hope that the gesture demonstrates that their efforts are recognised and valued, and that in a small way it provides a little encouragement to them.

Small Actions; Big Impact

A couple of weeks ago, one of my colleagues caught this beautiful moment on camera as one friend helped another. A seemingly small and simple action – one friend helping another adjust his tie – but one that speaks volumes of the big impact that small gestures such as this have on embedding a culture of kindness.

The great basketball coach John Wooden once famously said, “The true test of character is what you do when nobody else is watching.”

Loyalty. Kindness. Thoughtfulness. These are the qualities of character that I value more than any other at Oswestry School and, whilst it’s not always captured around campus in an image like this, I see it every day in the actions – and interactions – between pupils, and it brings me no greater joy to see so clearly the strength that comes from these moments of camaraderie and community. Little moments; small gestures. But they all make a big difference.

Throwing Stars Into the Sea

In Loren Eisely’s story  ‘The Star Thrower’, the narrator describes seeing a figure on a beach in the distance, a young woman who reaches down to the sand and, picking up a starfish, gently throws it into the sea.

“Young lady,” he asked, “Why are you throwing starfish into the ocean?”

“The sun is up, and the tide is going out,” replied the woman.  “If I do not throw them in, they will die.”

“But do you not realise there are miles and miles of sand, and starfish all along it? You cannot possibly make a difference.”

The young woman listened politely, paused and then bent down, picked up another starfish and threw it into the sea saying, “Ah, but it made the difference for that one.”

Pausing to take in her words and think about what she had done, the man then joined her in throwing starfish back into the sea.  Soon others joined, and one by one the starfish were all saved.

Making the Difference

It may seem hopelessly idealistic – or at best futile – to think that small gestures can make a big impact, but I remain firm in the belief that it is in the gift of us all to make a difference to others, and that small gestures of kindness and thoughtfulness truly do have a big – and lasting – impact. In our busy lives where we’re ruled by the tyranny of the clock, it’s all too easy to race through a day without due regard for those we journey beside. But it takes but a few moments to pause to say thank you (or even better, write a note not an email!). It takes but a few moments to stop and help someone out. To ask someone how they are. To make someone’s day that little bit easier by taking something off their to do list. Will it fix the problems of the world? No. But will it make the difference to someone else? Absolutely, and that, in my book, makes it all worthwhile.

Small actions they may well be, but it’s the little things that really do make the difference.