A touch of yellow on this girl is just a splash of happiness for me. How can you look at this photograph and not grin? Everything about this picture is right, I love the detail, the red basket, the eggs, her beautiful, sunny tights and her shoes. It is with pleasure I present this well-composed photo to you. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.
Seahorse, Turneffe Islands, Belize. Image taken by Clark Anderson/Aquaimages. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
My favorite color: Yellow.
I have to look inside for the color yellow to make me smile, like this bouncy seahorse, sure to entertain.
How can you not smile and laugh when you look at this charming creature?
The Great Kindness Challenge Logo (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Equating kindness with money is a complete misconception.You don’t need to make a grand gesture to be kind to someone. You don’t have to pay their entire bill at a restaurant when you don’t have enough money. It doesn’t mean writing a large check to a charity, you can send only what you can afford. It can cost nothing but a conscious thought. These days I try to be CONSCIOUS of my actions and interactions during the day. I try to think before I speak, I try to think before I think and no, that’s not a typo.
My intentions are good, they come from a good place inside me. However, their impact may not always shine through. That’s a problem that I need to work on. I may be perfectly happy and walk down the street with a frown, thinking about money problems or something unsettling. The fact that I’m frowning gives off bad vibes to other people, so I am trying to change that before I start. I really have practiced grinning when I find my muscles tighten, it actually works and it does pull me out of whatever (foul) mood I am in. It’s contagious too. I try to say hello to everyone, not everyone answers back but that’s fine, some reply, some smile, some ignore, most people react in a wonderful way. It’s a small thing but it is a kind thing to do. There’s too little of that in this world.
The holidays are rough for me and for many others. Many people don’t know that or understand that, most people don’t talk about it. I’ve never been shy to talk about my emotions. I get in trouble for that sometimes but I’m too old to care. The only gift of getting older is wisdom. If your heart is in the right place, if you are being kind and gracious that’s all that truly matters. You are not frozen in terror like you used to be when you were younger when you kept asking and re-asking yourself if you did the right thing. You do the very best you can with pure intentions and an open heart.
Examples of things to do with NO money involved:
Hold the door open for someone.
Let them get ahead of you in line at the grocery store.
Pay for your cup of coffee and tell the server you want to pay for the next person too.
Smile and say hello to the next 5 people you meet.
If you know a family is struggling, why not ask how you can help them? Or, just help them.
Free babysitting.
The list can go on and on, it’s just that in our busy lives we sometimes forget to think about others and that’s normal. So, today, why don’t you put two or three minutes aside and see how you can make the world a nicer place, a kinder place. It costs you nothing and you get back in return, everything. Let’s make kindness the new normal. Thanks!
Rainbow (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Sky high, colors, rain
half- full moon, spectrum, a gift?
No, black and white, gray.
**************************************
Magic sky bleeds art
layers of luminescence
Kind smile for the soul.
Two Rainbows at Dusk in Denmark. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Yes, I admit it, I have been feeling blue but this should help, at least a little:
English: a very happy guy (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Beauty (Photo credit: TONY – M)
Random Acts of Kindness (Photo credit: mbgrigby)
I’ve been a little down lately and cranky and I feel just a bit lost. I’m trying to get my footing in a very fast-changing world and I don’t know where I will end up. I know a lot of people, my age, who have felt the same way, even worse. The world is a very scary place, sometimes a very sad place and I know that many people are feeling its effects. I feel them too. How could we not? We’re getting older, if we still have parents, they are getting older and our children are just about adults. The sandwich generation is taking its toll, we are looking back over our shoulders wondering where the last 40 years have gone?
Today I talked to a very close friend who shut me up in about 30 seconds when she told me her aunt was having much more significant problems with her child, they had discovered two masses in his body and were in the process of finding out what they were. Hopefully, they were nothing serious but the stress they were going through was paralyzing. It left me embarrassed with my petty annoyances. Sometimes you just have to look at life that way. Yes, whatever you go through is real for you, no one is going to get down on you for what you feel, but in this life we all need to keep thins in perspective. Keep YOUR problems in perspective.
In the meantime, stop focusing on yourself. Today, as I had planned, I filled out the form to be a volunteer at a Hospice, something I’ve always wanted to do. A few days ago I joined a gym for the summer to finally get myself in shape. (I’ve already lost 30 pounds now I just want to be fit) I won’t have to look away from my internist or down at the floor when she asks me the “how much do you exercise question?” I am trying to help myself, to keep my mind and body busy.
If I do more, I will get more in return. I remember my father teaching me that, long, long ago when I was looking for a summer job in college and hadn’t gotten very many call backs from companies after sending out some resumes: “The more you send out, the more you call, the more responses you will receive” he told me. That was then, when people were courteous and he was certainly right, now, nobody seems to care. I spent over 20 years in Human Resources, calling every person, acknowledging every inquiry, what they do now is horrific. They don’t do anything, even after an interview. Nobody seems to care. They don’t treat people like people. What have we become? In a country that needs good manners the most for the discouraged or unemployed, people treat others horribly. My husband went through this years ago for 2 and a half years…we know.
If you need any helpful hints or have any questions before an interview, feel free to write me.
If there is nothing sparkling new in your life now or nothing to look forward to be thankful and appreciate what you have and don’t think about what you lack. Do some good in the world, some random act of kindness. Volunteer, offer someone who is elderly your arm to cross the street or carry their groceries. Hold the door for people, it costs no money and means so much. Celebrate what you do have and don’t cry over what you don’t. It’s really as simple as that.
Celebrate your life with wonder, grace and gratitude and even if you don’t feel like it, smile. Yes, smile. Sometimes if you “pretend”smile, it can help you as well as others. A very special teacher I had, long ago, called it “The Confidence Game.” It’s worth trying. You have nothing to lose.
I wish you peace, I wish you luck, I wish you hope.
FREE MYANMAR 2012 – I give you my smile – Ich zaubere Dir ein Lächeln (Photo credit: alles-schlumpf)
How I feel, appear
strong, confident, sparkling-gold
Inside I crouch, wilt.
***
A lonely corner
a pink crumpled little girl
Will not show her tears.
***
Inside, she is steel
Stubborn, rigid, eyes black- gold
Blonde, sweet, smiling curls.
07_08_07 097_moons+stars (Photo credit: al_green)
Buying cards, sharp pain
a gasp, I am slumped over.
I forgot he died.
*****
I dip my green eyes
lower to a slice of youth
Smile to escape here.
*****
Let me sleep, I beg
Hide me, deep in my clothing
Until it’s my Time.
*****
Finally, I live in a small white house that has a yellow door. Imagine just locking and unlocking my door every day, several times a day, makes my smile light up like a jack o’ lantern. I don’t like too flashy or bright colors but rather, warm and welcoming. Framing the house, and in the small garden, are yellow flowers, all different kinds, but easy to take care of and maintain. In the warm weather, I sit in my garden and slowly sip my hot tea, with cream and sugar, and I take a few moments appreciating this lovely bit of a place. My big, rescue dog, named Shep, lies beside me and I stroke his fur and he puts his head on my lap. I marvel at how wonderful my older life has become, feeling the sunshine on my face and how much I appreciate my simple life here, at home.
Exposing My Self
Inner Feelings Blasting Forth
Now I Want To Hide.
*
People Are Different
Emotionally Damaged
Let It Rest In Peace
*
Fear, Lonely Boy Weeps
Tries To Hide Behind His Wall
Let Us Smile For You
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