In Andrew Soltis’ book, “The Inner Game of Chess”, he starts the first chapter with the quote from philosopher Alfred North Whitehead:
“We think in generalities, we live in details.”
Andrew Soltis goes on to explain that, in chess, while many look at the generalities of movement—it is the details that will come and bite you. And this is true in life as well.
Many times we thing that if we live in generalities, we are somehow will get ahead by focusing on the “big rocks” in our life. But, it are those little details that will throw a wrench into the plan and sometimes derail the effort that you’ve already put into a particular project or effort. It is the details that we must pay attention to. It is the details that can also make our project thrive.
It is the little things that will put us ahead.
If we miss the details, we may be missing an opportunity to treat someone with extra care; we may be missing an important part of the puzzle we are trying to solve, or we may miss the open door we may have to share the gospel—simply by paying attention to the details.
We do live in the details. It is these details that prove our need to care for those who may not have the surplus or resource that are available to us. These details may also lead us to find the needs of the many people that we pass every day. Everyone has details that they may be dealing with each day—it is our job and mission to bring hope to those struck in the dream of generalities, but crippled by the details.
(Photo: Unsplash)