The Kindness Tree

GRATITUDE ATTITUDE - PART II

There is a follow-up to the "broken house" story that perhaps is the most important part of all.

We all go through times that things feel out of control. Currently, mine centers around the many things that keep falling apart in our home but, more importantly, some health issues that have made me stop and think about what really matters.

Perhaps, the house despair (and repair) is a metaphor!

It is so easy to focus on the negative and the problems. I think that is human nature. I also believe that we have choices about how we deal with our plight, whatever form it takes.

I  want to continue to come back to being grateful for the good things. And, to look for them when they are not foremost on my mind.

True Gratitude, I believe, is about the ability to be positive in the face of adversity not when all is well on the home front.

So, I would like to thank certain folks who have made the journey as little easier because

"A SIMPLE ACT OF KINDNESS HAS A BEAUTY ALL OF ITS OWN"

Thanks , Crystal Crystal for making my work so much easier. I will never forgot all you have done.
Thanks, Margaret Cotton, for restoring my faith that there are still successful business people that can inspire and give motivation.
And, GREATEST THANKS,  to my most wonderful family who continues to support me, and who is growing up and away but can come back together with love and laughter and fun!

GRATITUDE ATTITUDE

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My kids often make fun of me when I quote famous proverbs. They think they are  "old fashioned".
The fact is that these sayings have been around alot longer than all of us so there must be a pretty good reason for it.
I only hope I am around long enough for the day I hear them repeating those wonderful words of wisdom to their kids. THAT WILL BE JUSTICE!

For now, I try to practise what I preach and encourage all of you readers to do the same.

THIS STORY IS ENTITLED  "IS THE GLASS HALF EMPTY OR FULL?"

Yesterday was one of those days. In the midst of work being done in our house to repair a wooden floor that was put in last summer (mind you, shortly after it's completion, our "new floor" which cost us alot of money had a large enough buckle in it to resemble a small mountain which the company refused to take responsibility for), we had a problem with our air conditioning unit. To make a long story short, we were trying to get it fixed to actually blow cold air into one room that does not properly cool or heat due , according to the A/C repair person, to the unit being installed improperly. From there, we were told that the unit was not only installed incorrectly for proper coverage of the whole house but it was installed incorrectly and would forever have a leakage problem unless fixed. The repair person did not give us the impression that is was an emergency which was the good news.

I hope by now you are laughing and thinking of your own stories that ring true to ours but , hold that thought, I am not yet done. It gets better.

As ill prepared as we were to deal with all of these unexpected problems and costs, as my oldest son always says, "it could always be worse"  (hold onto that one, it really does help keep things in perspective, at least, for me).
And, guess what, that is exactly what happened.

Around dinner time, my 15 year old son is screaming quite loudly to come quick to his room.
I fly up the stairs, screaming back for some clarification, when I find his ceiling with a rather large hole and water like a small waterfall coming down from it. My two sons and I quickly mobilized  to get things under some degree of control.  When my husband finally arrives home after a fairly hysterical telephone call from me, his first comment is that it was not as bad as he thought when I called. (Ladies, back me on this) At that point, I could have easily dumped him under a waterfall but I didn't.

Now, for the punch line, despite this all, we were really quite lucky because had all this not been happening, we would not have had the good fortune to have the AC repair person come at 8:00 p.m. and help us temporarily fix the unit in order to have air conditioning.
Given the hot, humid whether in the South, this was quite a happy ending to the story.

So, whenever things get really crazy, I try to remember to be GRATEFUL FOR THE LITTLE THINGS.

In fact, in telling the story again, it is actually quite worthy of a good belly laugh.
THE BEST MEDICINE OF ALL.

So whats the Moral to the Story?

I would like to think that I write with a purpose. I've noticed that many bloggers write just to tell their story. It seems to me this is alot like looking at someone's vacation pictures. Unless you've been there or, better yet, are in them, after a while, it can get kind of boring.
I'm sure there are many readers who enjoy this, especially if their story is similiar ~ kind of the "misery loves company" concept.

I take a different approach. I write to understand the story, just as I try to understand the meaning of things that happen in life. I realize that some may find this too preachey or too much like therapy. I hope that I can reach those readers that want to hear the morale to the story and are searching for "the purpose."

My goal is to have readers come away with a new thought, something to contemplate, and an opportunity to challenge themselves emotionally, spiritually and creatively.

I invite those of you out there that want an exclamation point at the end of the sentence, not just a plain old period, to join me with your stories, thoughts, ideas and wonderful words of wisdom or, at least, wonderful questions in search of the wisdom.

I dedicate this blog to you folks.  Just remember,

"Each day and the living of it, has to be a conscious creation to which discipline and order are relieved with some play and pure foolishness."  May Sarton(1912-1995),Belgian born American Writer

Kindness Comes In Different Shapes and Sizes

Having just returned from a Family Vacation in Barbados, I am struck by the impact that kindness and warm hospitality can have on one's experience as well as the negative effect that occurs when the opposite happens.
Barbados was written up as an especially friendly, warm place where tourists are made to feel at home. Regretfully, I did not have that experience. Instead, I found the hotel staff to be somewhat abrupt and not very accommodating. They seemed to be doing their jobs begrudgingly. Perhaps, because of this experience, I was acutely aware of the few that were particulary nice and friendly such as the gentleman who lived in the far outskirts of the countryside and actually stopped our car to tell us how to get around a road detour just slightly up the way. Now, that was KIND!
It is amazing how different a place can feel when you are interacting with nice, friendly warm people.
It is like the difference between seeing a place when it is raining versus when the sun is shining. It just feels different.
We became friendly with a number of other guests at our hotel who were quite friendly. It is a gift to feel like you have made friends and bonded with people from all over the country who just happen to come together at a particular time and place. That will be a nice memory we shall keep with us forever.

My point on telling this story is that we can all add to the world and each others experiences if we showed some kindness along the way to those who we meet anew as well as those we already love.