Small gestures mean a lot

Small gestures mean a lot. Last week I was rushing through the ticket barrier at Paddington Station and a slightly puffed-out gentleman stopped me.

He handed me my credit card that I had unknowingly dropped on the station concourse a minute earlier.

He didn’t have to run after me, he could have just left the credit card lying on the floor for someone else to find. He went out of his way. It perhaps wasn’t that big a deal for him, but it was a massive deal for me.

And that’s my point. Sometimes we can do something for someone else that we might not think is a big deal, but it means a lot to the other person.

Offering to make someone a cuppa, helping someone with their shopping, remembering to say good luck or well done or its OK, letting the person with one sandwich go in front of your weekly shop, letting another driver go first, popping a bag of pasta in the foodbank box at the supermarket, holding the lift door, even just stopping to smile or say hello. The list is endless.

Those small gestures can mean a lot. Perhaps they mean even more now that we’re more online, more stressed and overwhelmed and more struggling to make ends meet.

As you go about your day, what are the small things that you might be more deliberate about that might make a big difference to someone else? Your friends, your family, your supporters or your customers?

I’d love to hear about the small gestures that have meant a lot to you. Please share.

Thank you.