Recently I overheard the sweetest conversation between a grandfather and his granddaughter. She is the daughter of my neighbors. He’d come over to watch her and her little sister. The little 2 1/2 year old wants to drink from a glass while outside. Grandpa is firm but so sweet, as he repeatedly tells her she cannot have glass outside. She must have a plastic cup because she may drop the glass, it could break and she could hurt herself. She does not understand. She is not old enough to connect the dots of what may happen. She does not have the experience or reasoning ability at her age to think of possible consequences or to even know what glass is and the dangers of mixing it and concrete.
Personal Space is By Invitation Only
Have you met anyone who intentionally invades your personal space? You’re at a party and they completely ignore the respectful 3-feet of space rule between them and you. They lean in completely shattering that socially acceptable comfort zone to the point you can feel their hot breath on your face and know exactly what they had for lunch. UCK! It does not feel good to have your personal space invaded, unless you ask someone in. So what’s up with people who think it is absolutely okay to tailgate?
We’re not inviting anyone to ride our car’s butt. It’s not polite, or safe, to just invade our space
Say What You Say With Love
Words have power, that is why we must be responsible for what we tell ourselves and others. For instance, It’s not positive to say I have a bad back. Sure my back has been injured, operated on, and I have permanent nerve damage. But that does not make my back bad.
The words we choose influence our attitude. If we tell ourselves we have a bad back then the negative surrounding the word “bad” will permeate our conscious and subconscious. If we change the word bad to fragile or injured, we honor the physical state of our human being while doing so in a nurturing and supportive way.
A Rare Inspirational Find
Warning! Shocking NEWS coming…Barbara and I are fans of American Ninja Warriors. Yes, I know you’d think I’d be the type person to run as fast as possible from anything with Warrior in the title. But I have to say when you get past the over the top hype from the announcers, Ninja Warriors is inspiring. It is positively uplifting to see men and women, of various ages, competing against themselves to get through an amazingly hard obstacle course.
I admire people who challenge themselves. Not one of us improves to become better, happier, more fulfilled in life, without constantly challenging ourselves. Sure the show is a competition to see who finishes the course in the fastest time to be America’s Ninja Warrior. But beyond the one winner takes all concept, this competition is one where all of the contestants are pitted against a common challenge. So each must be well trained, strong, and smart to survive the seemingly impossible feats they are asked to perform.Continue reading
Love is Responsible
I was walking behind a man who was smoking. He stopped, dropped the cigarette on the sidewalk and crushed it out with his shoe.
Almost everyone I see smoking flicks the still lit butt into the street or drops it on the sidewalk or some other public place expecting someone else to clean up after them. For too many years that is exactly what I did until I became conscious of the negative impact my cigarette butts had on the environment, animals, children and other people. So I was very pleased to see the man bend down, pick up his cigarette butt and put it into the trash can.
Love is Kind
Has anyone ever asked you a question like does my butt look big in these pants? I have been asked awkward questions countless times. It never felt good to be put on the spot. It’s not kind to put people in an awkward position.
If we have to ask someone if our butt looks big in the jeans we’re wearing we already know the answer about our own butt. And, leaving people in an awkward position feels just as bad as being put in one.
Focus on You
Have you ever wished you had a magic wand? You could wave that magically stick and people would change and at last your life would be happier, flow easier, and everything would be okay.
I grew up on fairy tales. Deep down I always knew magical wands are not really real but I stubbornly clung to the idea if I just screamed loud enough, harped long enough, bitched strong enough people would change and my life would suddenly be magical. Never happened! Not once did anyone change because of my wanting them to.
Love is Refusing to Ego-Box with Others
Love is a way of walking through life. Love is a way of BE-ING in the world. Love is peaceful, kind, cooperative, understanding, forgiving, patient, and honest. To give the positive behaviors of love to the people we have affection and caring for we must BE these in our everyday life. So we cannot ego-box with strangers on the road and come home peaceful and kind to our family. We cannot be selective with loving. We are either loving or we are not. In every moment, in every circumstance, we have the choice to lead with love or to lead with the behaviors of fear – rudeness, self-centeredness, anger, rage, entitlement, frustration, disappointment, control, blame, and judgment.
You get angry at someone for the stupid mistake he or she made and you’re going to bring that anger home. People do careless things. Sometimes we don’t think. Sometimes we don’t seem to care if our actions are going to inconvenience another person or not.
Action Creates Positive Change
I am a fan of Ellen DeGeneres. I like her positivity and optimism. I appreciate her bravery for championing causes that make a positive difference in people’s lives and in the world. I believe she is dedicated to creating her best life and to helping other people create their best lives too. And, I enjoy watching her over the top enthusiastic fans compete for prizes in strange and imaginative ways.
The other day I was watching when a young woman competing in one of Ellen’s games was asked, “What woman recently announced her candidacy for the office of the president of the United States.” The young woman was understandably nervous and excited and possibly she did know the right answer but she replied, “I don’t know. I’m not political.”
We’re Human Beings with Different Colored Skin
When I was four or five, my mom took me to her friend’s house on Halloween. My sister and I were dressed in little scary outfits. We rang the doorbell and Mrs. Lilly, an older woman, answered. We said, “Trick or treat!” She smiled and put several pieces of candy into our bags.
As she was ushering us inside for a visit, a car pulled up to the curb. I looked back to see a little black girl, my age and dressed as a witch, stepping out of the car. Mrs. Lilly screamed, “Get back in that car, nigger. I do not want you coming up here. Go home where you belong.”