The Discarded Small Bolt
It was just a bolt.
Small. Unassuming.
Lying there on the floor like a dropped coin no one bothers to pick up.
“E no dey matter,” my mechanic muttered, wiping his greasy hands on a rag, already moving on to the next task.
I stared at it. “But if it didn’t matter,” I asked, “why did the manufacturer put it there?”
He paused, eyes narrowing. “You no trust me?”
I didn’t answer. I didn’t want any confrontation. I just looked at the bolt again—silent, still, discarded.
Later, stranded in the middle of nowhere, I had my answer.
What should have been a smooth three-hour drive turned into a full-day ordeal.
All because of that one tiny bolt.
That day, I learned something:
It’s never just a bolt.
How many times have we dismissed the small things in our lives?
A kind word we didn’t say.
A promise we broke because “they’ll understand.”
A lie we let slide because “it’s not that serious.”
A boundary we ignored because “love should be unconditional.”
A red flag we painted green because we were afraid to be alone.
We say, “It’s fine.”
We say, “It’s not that deep.”
We say, “Someone else will handle it.”
But the truth is—
It’s the little things that hold everything together.
And when we neglect them, the whole thing starts to shake.
The relationship falls apart.
The friendship fades.
The trust breaks.
The purpose blurs.
And we are left wondering, “How did we get here?”
But deep down, we know.
We left the bolt behind.
Reflectintrospection
Neglect doesn’t always shout. Sometimes, it whispers, “It’s okay to skip this one thing.”
Our lives do not lose it’s meaning suddenly, oftentimes we get assassinated by being fascinated with a little compromise at a time.
Systems don’t collapse overnight—they erode, one overlooked detail at a time.
Our presence matters. Our honesty matters. Our consistency matters. Our faithfulness matters. Our accountability and responsibility matter…..and not overlooking the same in those we choose to align with our destiny matter too!
Don’t wait for the breakdown to realise the value of what we have been ignoring or tagging as “nothing” because it can be “everything”.
We are someone’s bolt. Someone’s anchor. Someone’s missing piece. And we are also our own life’s trusted ally. Treasure your worth and do not cast your pearls before swines!
Serenity Prayer
Dear Lord,
Teach us to see the weight in the small.
To notice the quiet things that hold our lives together.
To stop excusing our absence from the sacred work of love,
And to show up—fully, faithfully, even when no one is watching.
Help us remember:
It’s never just a bolt.
Amen.
