The Weight Of Small Things - April 03

Do you ever brush off something you've done as "too small to matter"? In this 5 Minutes in Nature, Liz shares a moment of self-doubt before giving a presentation on a community project — and the gentle reminder from a friend that brought her back to herself.

A quiet reflection on why small actions carry more weight than we think.

Transcript

Hello and welcome to Five Minutes in Nature with me Liz Scott, Out and about walking on Dartmoor and I'm sheltering from quite a cool wind. I've been sitting in my office today and it's been quite cold. My office is on the north east side of the house and I've had the window adjust slightly just to get some fresh air in and it's actually chilled me. So I was delighted to go walking today, Go out walking up a hill which is what I have to do to get up onto Dartmoor and I've been striding across the moor and I'm just standing now beneath a tree. You can probably hear me as I move my feet I'm stepping on little twigs that are snapping beneath me but I'm looking actually down on the ground and I can see the remnants of acorns and oak leaves and I'm just going to look up well I'm assuming I'm looking up at an oak tree there are no leaves on it at the moment. And today I was just reflecting on a conversation I had with a friend this morning. I have been busy today working on a PowerPoint presentation. I'm sharing about the work I've done in communities around the inside out understanding in particular around well-being listening and you can find out more about well-being listening on a course here on Insight Timer and I'm part of a group which are supporting people to share the inside out understanding or the three principles in community and it was asked if I would just share my journey with well-being listening and the community of Ivy Bridge. So I have been looking through old photographs and thinking about how I might present 15 minutes of a project which lasted nearly five years just sharing what it was like for me to share well-being listening in Ivy Bridge. But I was aware that the talk I was going to be giving and this is the talk I'll be giving tomorrow night I was aware that this talk was only going to be to a very small handful of people and when I connected up with my friend we were having an online conversation we thought we'd have an online cup of tea I she said well what have you been up to and I said oh well I've been organizing this powerpoint presentation I said it's probably just going to be for a very small number of people and I started to talk it down I don't know if you do that sometimes just it's habitual for me it's like oh well it'll just be for a small number of people and I doubt many people will turn up and you know I'm spending a lot of time on it but you know I don't know why and I just had that little it was habitual I didn't really mean any of it and I was so pleased that she picked me up she said hang on a second she said it doesn't matter whether it's small or big she said actually small is really important and I was I was kind of needled a bit inside and I know when I feel a little bit of irritation that's usually my ego feeling annoyed that somebody has hit the nail on the head and she had because I was like oh you're right I've been actually just lost in a bit of habitual thinking and she saw right through it and as we talked further I landed back in that wonderful space of realization and nourishment and peace of mind and clarity and I realized that it doesn't matter what impact I make or how many people turn up I will talk and be present the same as if there's two people and if there's a hundred people it doesn't matter and as she said you don't know who will be touched by what you say you just don't know and this is a reminder for me and also a reminder for you I'm going to suggest I don't know if you sometimes get lost in that feeling of what's the point and you know I'm not really being able to meet or see or connect with many people or share or support many people whatever your version of it is it's for me it's like I'm not really making much of a difference in the world and like I say I'm not looking for sympathy or empathy or reassurance here for me what's been really helpful is just recognizing this habitual thought that just pops up in my world sometimes and it really isn't true and it's so helpful when somebody points it out to me which my friend did today so today is just a reminder and a question really do you sometimes get lost in thinking that what you're doing is so insignificant and small that it doesn't count and the question is this what is it that you're doing which might be very small and insignificant I'll be back for another five minutes in nature tomorrow but don't forget to respond to that question what am I doing that might be very small and insignificant and how does it count in the world?

Reviews

Your work matters Liz. My small bit that I am doing is to take five minutes in nature with you. To truly listen and feel what you are you are portraying in this moment. ✌️❤️

I feel this. I often dismiss my work as not being as important as other’s work. I lead nursing students in their clinical practice…but I don’t teach in the classroom or I place them beside nurses… but I don’t really work as a nurse.
It’s easy to fall into this way of thinking. 🤷‍♀️
Thank you Liz.

It is a very familiar habitual thought pattern to me. Yesterday I met someone who has just moved to our village and she knew of me, said she'd ve in touch for a massage. I was surprised and delighted I to realise I have a presence in the community. It was a warm feeling 🙏🏼✨️