Monday, December 28, 2009

The Little Things- Making Things Right

I am knitting a sweater for my new grandson, and since I knit rather slowly, it was not ready, as I had hoped, for his circumcision at 8 days old. Last night I realized that if I don’t finish it soon, the growing baby will outgrow the sweater before it is made, or soon after. So I decided to work on the sweater for several hours, and to try to nearly finish it.
However, when I picked it up, I suddenly noticed that about 6 rows down I had made a mistake, one that really ruined the lovely design. A small mistake, but never-the-less, a definite error.
So I unraveled several rows, reknitted them, and then discovered that I had started the pattern in the wrong place. This time the problem was less unsightly than before, yet visible if looked at. Again I unraveled several rows, and reknit them. So at the end, I reached the same point that I had started at, but with the errors corrected.
Knitting is like that. If you want to have a finished product worth the time invested, you need to pay attention to detail, correct small mistakes as they occur, or as soon as you notice them. Because even small errors can make the finished product unsightly.

And isn’t it the same way in real life? Very rarely do we have major nissiyonot (trials) to deal with. Usually our choices have to do with the little things.....
- Tell your child that you didn’t mean what you said; it came out wrong.
- Make that cup of hot tea in the morning for your husband, as a kindness.
-Skip that second portion of potatoes.
Yes, it is generally these little things, the things we generally don’t notice (and think that others will not praise us for....), that make up the fabric of our lives. And it is stitch by stitch, choice by choice, that determines what OUR finished product will be.... whether it be in the form of our relationships, our diet, or anything else we wish to accomplish!

2 comments:

Staying Afloat said...

Beautiful analogy.

May your grandson wear the sweater in good health.

Ilana said...

What a lovely message. I enjoy your blog so much. It is inspirational in a quiet everyday kind of way -- useful, reassuring, and motivating.