GTM Part 35

Little Things

On Thursday 11 July 1991, Nigeria Airways Flight 2120 crashed near Jedda Airport, less than 3 minutes after takeoff.  None of the 261 passengers survived.  Cause of the on-board fire that led to the eventual crash? One of the wheels of the landing gear had not been properly inflated.  That landing gear caught fire during take-off…  A little thing.

February 1, 2003.  This time it was the Columbia Space Shuttle.  It disintegrated as it re-entered earth’s atmosphere, killing all 7 crew members.  Cause of structural disintegration?  A piece of insulation foam, the size of briefcase, broke off the 13-floors-high space shuttle as they were launching.  The hole left behind did not withstand forces during reentry.  The whole shuttle broke apart... A little thing.

What has brought your manliness project crashing spectacularly time and again?  If we’re to be blunt about it, little things.  They always start with something little: a little disobedience, a little lie, a little porn, a little idleness, a little too much alcohol, a little indecency… For example: the reason you’re not able to get out of bed on time, is because you don’t get into bed on time. A little thing. And you don’t get into bed on time cause you don’t set an end time to your surfing, social media and general “night entertainment” before you sleep. Another little thing.

On the positive side: did you see how Times Towers and other imposing buildings were built? One brick upon another. Thousands. But, one by one. And bags of cement, one by one. And blocks of stone, each of them insignificant compared with the massive whole. And beams of steel. And men working, the same hours, day after day...

Have you seen how that imposing building was built?... By dint of little things!

And if we’re to be frank about what has helped you grow the most in body, mind or soul thus far, it is always little things.  Your body, for example, never grows in leaps and bounds.  It does so in little steps.  Anything that grows fast is usually cancerous or dangerously unnatural (steroids), i.e. a monstrosity.

Harness the power of little things.  They may be unseen and unpraised by others (which helps your humility), but they are also much more within your grasp (even on your bad days, thus encouraging), and they are solid (because they are natural).

290420