The other day, as I was walking out of the gym, something caught my eye—a historical marker in the parking lot about the first-ever UPC barcode scan happening right here in my home town, Troy, Ohio.
I’ve been going to the gym five to six days a week for months now, parking in the same lot, walking the same path, and somehow, I had never noticed that sign before. It was sitting right there, in plain sight, but for some reason, that day was the day I finally saw it.
And the funny thing? It turned out to be a pretty cool piece of history. The first barcode scan happened in 1974, on a simple pack of Wrigley’s gum. At the time, it must have seemed like a tiny moment—just a routine beep at a checkout counter. But looking back, that small event transformed the way we shop, track inventory, and move products all over the world. Without UPC barcodes, the efficiency we take for granted today wouldn’t even be possible.
That got me thinking about how often things sit right in front of us, unnoticed, until one day, for whatever reason, we finally see them. Maybe it’s a concept in dog training that never really clicked before, but suddenly, you hear it explained a slightly different way and everything falls into place. Maybe it’s a breakthrough your dog has been on the edge of making, but you only recognize it in hindsight. Or maybe it’s a realization about your own progress—one day, you look back and see just how far you’ve come, even though the day-to-day changes felt small.
It’s so easy to get caught up in looking for the next big moment, the next major improvement, that we miss the incredible things sitting right in front of us. But when we take the time to notice them, to appreciate the small steps and seemingly ordinary moments, we start to see just how meaningful they really are.
So the next time you feel like progress is slow, take a moment to look around. Maybe there’s a little sign—literal or metaphorical—that’s been there all along, waiting for you to notice it. And when you do, you just might realize that what seemed small at first is actually pretty special.
Warmly,
Daisy
