…the little things (that add up)

Change is tough. We are incredibly habitual beings by nature. When we develop a routine it makes day-to-day life more manageable. When we create that sense of predictability, we allow ourselves to focus on the little things which we have no control over. The more attention we give to each little thing, the better prepared we tend to feel.

Change shakes routine to the ground, leaving just the idea of predictability behind. We want to get the system back in place – rebuild the structure we had – but now the pieces are different. It takes time to figure out a new way to do the same things. The hardest part about it all is that now the little things are slipping through the cracks, but the little things still need attention.

It’s the little things that make up our daily routines that become magnified with change. On the flip side, it’s the little things that get us through the day that ease the change.

Traveling to Spain has been a rush of little things – the preparation, the travel process, the adaptation to daily life. The big things are obvious – it’s a foreign country; I don’t speak the local language; they eat supper at nine o’clock. Those things I anticipated before I booked the first international flight of my life. Those changes hit me in the face, but at least I saw them coming. It’s the little things that got to me.

I had no idea that homes are not heated, and I did not pack the apparently-essential slippers. I had no idea that 2-in-1 shampoo and conditioner comes in only one option at a store that is a 45 minute walk away. I had no idea that beds are made with only a bottom sheet and a comforter. I had no idea that water would cost €1,75 when beer is €1,20. I had no idea that moped drivers have the confidence of a war-horse. I had no idea that the shower head would not have a mount on the wall. I had no idea that shirts sometimes have half-hoods built in. I had no idea that oranges could taste like lemon floor cleaner. I had no idea that I would have no idea about so many things.

But it’s the little things that have gotten me through. I checked my bag with over 50 pounds of life in it and didn’t have to remove that extra pair of Sperry’s. I made it through airport security in a few minutes. I had a window seat on all four of my flights. I got picked up at the airport in Seville even though the plane landed after the scheduled pick-up time. I found fellow American students in one of the biggest airports in the world. I have wifi at my housing strong enough to use FaceTime. I get to walk past palm trees every day. I am finding ways to communicate without relying on words. I have WhatsApp and a long list of friends who are figuring out the seven-hour time difference with me. I found body wash that smells vaguely like Mountain Dew. I get to eat fresh fish at least weekly. My primary classroom has desks instead of the (pointless) fold-up trays. I can fit all of my pre-approved classes in my schedule. I have a phone capable of taking good-quailty pictures while I wander. I know how to read a map in a GPS-dependent age. I found purple clothes hangers.

It’s the little things that are getting me through each day. Like the fact that I have twice as many good little things as unsure little things written down. Sure, there are big things that still hit me in the face – and there will be about 120 days of that to come. The little things that somehow just work or that go so much better than I had anticipated – that’s what I focus on as I lay in bed and try to fall asleep, shivering beneath the blanket I borrowed from Iberia Airlines. It’s a crazy, mixed-up world out here, but God is constant. He has been immeasurably faithful and generous, every step of the way. I’m finding myself looking for Him more and more in the little things, and they’re adding up quickly.