“I’ll have a hot Americano please, single shot.”
The lanky waiter jots down my order and retreats. I plug my laptop in, take my mouse and its mat out of my suitcase, place both on the table, then settle down for an airport work session—boarding is in just over an hour.
Whenever I’m flying internationally, which of late is often enough, I come to this favoured spot on Level 3 of HCMC’s airport—an airy restaurant/café with a commanding view of the runway. Impressive though it is, the view isn’t what draws me—I’m here for the numerous sockets and the strong WiFi and the comfortable couch.
And the coffee, though it’s overpriced and rather shitty.
The same lanky waiter re-appears with a tray delicately balanced on his left arm, interrupting my reverie. With his right hand, he carefully places my Americano on the table, well away from my laptop. Good man. I flash him a smile in lieu of the tip he won’t get—I’m already getting gouged for the coffee. The waiter nods politely and once again disappears.
I’m about to start working when my eyes register the mini cookie perched on the saucer of my Americano. I pick it up to investigate. Seems crispy, smells buttery—probably delicious.
But I don’t eat it. And when I gather my things to go board my flight an hour later, the tiny cookie remains on the saucer—it lives to tease another day.
Don't eat the cookie
Letting cookies live another day has not been an easy habit to adopt. For more than three decades, i.e. most of my life, I was the consummate Cookie Monster. Every time a complimentary cookie/biscuit/biscotti arrived with my coffee, the condemned confectionery would disappear straight into my murderous mouth.
It’s so tiny. It’s just one piece. What harm can it do?
As it turns out, quite a fair bit.
One mini cookie may not sentence you to a life of obesity, but having a mini cookie every single time you’re offered one, well, it adds up. Say your favourite coffee shop always gives you a cookie with your latte. If you go twice a week, by year’s end you’ve had a hundred cookies—which you’d never dream of eating all at once unless you’re trying to give yourself diabetes.
But it’s not just the cookies. When you get in the habit of telling yourself “a mini cookie won’t hurt,” it’s a short hop from there to “small things don’t matter.” And then you find yourself ordering a “mini” roll cake with your “short” Starbucks latte a few nights a week then wonder why you’re not shedding weight sweating buckets in all those spin classes (this happened to a friend).
So yeah, don’t eat the cookie.
Small things matter most
When it comes to health and fitness, it’s not the 2-hour workouts once a month that make a difference, but the 20 minutes you spend in the gym every morning. The weeklong crash diet might help you fit into that outfit from a decade ago you wanted to wear for a big night out, but the weight won’t stay off unless you commit to small habit changes—like not eating the cookies—for years and years.
The same is true for most, if not all, areas of our lives.
Whether or not your relationships will flourish isn’t determined by the occasional grand gesture, but by the small things—checking in to see how a friend is doing, washing the dishes when your partner cooked, giving your parents a hug when you see them.
Whether you succeed in your career doesn’t come down to that one massive project you pulled off five years ago; what sets you up for lifelong success is consistently doing all the small things right—never missing a deadline, having an eye for detail, being proactive, not slacking off when the boss isn’t looking.
Financial freedom doesn’t come from the few windfalls in your lifetime, but the small amounts you routinely invest over decades. Happiness isn’t meeting the love of your life; it’s appreciating the moments of joy that occur every single day—waking to the sound of birds chirping, catching up with a good friend over coffee, finishing that work project that’s been stressing you out.
It’s the small things that matter most, every single time.
What do you think?
Now be honest:
Do you eat the cookie?
Literally and metaphorically. Do you pay attention to the small things that matter? What are those small things that make your life worth living? Please hit “reply” or leave a comment—I read every response and I’d love to hear from you. If you want, share this with a cookie fiend you care about.
Until next Friday… Stay thoughtful,
Val