Starting Over
Hey, 2007 is on its way out. Buh-bye, old year. It wasn’t a bad year necessarily, but not a sparkly, shiny year for me, and certainly not for the world.
I used to hope for world peace. Gave up on that one.
I haven’t done New Year’s Resolutions for years now. Instead I like to choose a theme or a focus for the year. Now a theme can be anything, such as: adventure, joy, fitness, balance, boldness, creativity…
And that theme can be applied to every facet of your life: Adventurous vacations, adventurous menus, adventurous friendships.
A theme doesn’t necessarily have to revolve around ourselves. We can choose a theme of extension. For example, how about kindness?
One of the fringe benefits of doing something good for someone else is that you also feel better.
And, even if you’re merely an observer to an act of kindness, seeing that act take place gives you a warm feeling. (It’s an advertisement, but watch this video on Rand’s blog: Paying It Forward. Or watch this: Free Hugs.)
Maybe we can’t change the world, but we can change our corner of it. Maybe it’s enough to just be a moment of light for one person who really needs it.
On a message board (not at a church) along a highway in Southeast Kansas, I saw this: “Be the answer to somebody’s prayer.”
Sometimes it doesn’t take much to make another person’s day.
The thing is, you don’t always know who is hurting; even friends don’t always tell you.
When someone is down, or burdened, or troubled, that person just needs to know that his or her existence matters, that another human being cares about them. Maybe all they/we need is a smile, a kind word, a hug, a cheery e-mail.
One of my dear friends, Simon, once said, “Kindness is a massively powerful and lovely thing - and so easy to start doing.”
May 2008 be a kind year to us all.
Filed under: life on the ground on December 31st, 2007
Cheryl,
I like the message of kindness. Kindness does not cost any money. Keep up the good messages.
Tom
Happy New Year, Tom!!
Happy New Year folks! Keep it simple, stay cool, stay kind! love you all! April
Oh! Cheryl! That was absolutely BEAUTIFUL! What a tremendous way to leave the year of 2007 and go into 2008. So “tastefully” written and it showed a lot of humility.
This reminds me of “Random Acts of Kindness”.
Random acts of kindness is a habit, a result of constant practice. Hopefully, it starts at home and with the family.
Random acts of kindness is the one constant that follows a person in his movements.
Random acts of kindness should not start and stop with others. It is also a practice one should adopt towards oneself.
Happy New Year Everyone and Thank You Cheryl for this Message!!!!
That was a great note to end the old year on and start the new. If we could just bend over backwards to be kind to people, even people we might deem unworthy somehow. The truth is, even the grouches among us need a kind hand sometimes.
Janet
What a great world it would be if everyone was KIND! What a great community Emporia could be if everyone was kind, too….
I used to admire people who were intelligent, but now I admire people who are kind. Thank you, Cheryl! Once again you have “hit the nail on the head.”
I can hardly believe that I, an English grammar teacher, used “was” instead of “were!” Heavenly daisies!!