Kindness

http://www.wiktionary.org/ defines kindness as:
1. The state of being kind.
2. An instance of kind or charitable behaviour.

I sometimes wonder if it's difficult for people to be kind. Is it in their blood? Is it a conscious choice for them? Is it too much effort and individuals decide not to do it?

I have decided for my self that it's a state of being. Something I must do and I try to do. Kindness presents itself in many different forms and sometimes we are so wrapped up in life that we miss a kind act.

Kind acts:

Nature's kindness ~
A bird sitting out your window singing a song as if it's just for you.
A butterfly fluttering in front of you as you walk.
Flowers in spring.
Autumn trees that are full of color.
Weeping Cherry Tree.
Rain hitting a tin roof.
A hawk/eagle flying in the sky reminding us of nature's magnificence and that I too can fly.

A friend calling out of the blue.
Little arms around your neck.
Surprise guest standing on your door step.
A letter in the mail.
A prayer uttered on your behalf.
and many more...

And today's heart melt and pure act of kindness:
A package made from a group of friends that made my heart smile and my day a little brighter.

.....thank you for your kindness.

Strength

As a child I observed a woman who had an amazing strength. It was incredible to watch and learn from her and now as an adult I continue to learn from her. I really did not understand the magnitude of her strength until a few years ago but now looking back on it her strength was and is pretty incredible.

I know sometimes she thinks she is invisible and sometimes she feels like she isn't needed but that isn't true. Her presence is as strong as it was when I was a small child. Her beauty more radiant now then it was then and well her courage sings louder than the mountains. I have seen her when life's burden was wearing her down, I have seen her when life was lifting her up and I have seen her when no one else was looking. I have seen her in my direct vision and out of the corner of my eye and the strength, courage and wisdom that I see is astounding.

In my moments of fragility she has given me the strength to carry on even when I didn't think it was possible. She had (and still has) a ray of light emitting from her that shines brightly on me and gives me courage to face life's battle. I have seen the pain in her eyes as she held my hand and my heart and watched me twist in misery as my life unraveled and self doubt filled me. But she gave me words of comfort and breathed life back into my withering spirit allowing me to stand firmly once again.

I know that I haven't always told her nor have I always shown her what her strength means to me and even though I haven't I hold it dear in my heart. I am a strong, independent woman because of her. Because she taught me to fight, she taught me to stand, she taught me to see and she did it with amazing grace and beauty.

This amazingly beautiful, strong and independent woman is my mother. She gave me life and taught me to live and love life with strength even when she didn't have strength of her own. For that I am grateful and filled with an amazing amount of love and respect for her.

~Thanks mom for assisting in making me the woman I am today. Thanks for your beauty and your strength.


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Oveous Maximus has written a beautiful poem entitled, "DULCE DE LECHE" (ironically Dulce is the name of my beautiful mother.)

The link below is him reading his poem. Click on it to hear my feelings regarding an amazing woman who gave me life and strength.

Oveous Maximus ~ "Dulce de Leche"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjZvgULWHWY

Holiday Memories

I absolutely love Christmas time. Sure I can do without the commercialism that has taken hold of our society. And yes I get quite irritated with how fast it goes by and the rush of the season. But when I really think about it my heart fills with a warmth and runs over with joy thinking about all of the fond memories I have of the season from my childhood. And now as an adult with children of my own, I cherish the memories I am creating with my own children and pray that they will look back on them with the same happiness I do regarding mine. Those memories gave me such joy as a child and still do.

• I LOVED riding around town and the back roads of my home town looking at all of the Christmas lights with my father. He would share memories of his own childhood while commenting on the beauty our eyes were gazing at.
• Each holiday season I would watch the Christmas holiday movies with my mother and the one that had the largest impact on me was "Miracle on 34Th Street". Sharing that time with her was so important to me as a child and still is as an adult.
• Receiving money from my mom to purchase Christmas gifts for my family. I didn't think about it then too much but she gave me a greater gift than what I was giving....the gift of thoughtfulness.
• Decorating our Christmas tree together.
• Christmas caroling with my father. I didn't really enjoy it that much as a child but now as an adult the memory makes me smile and makes me sad that people don't do it as often anymore.
• My mother would buy my brother and I chocolate Christmas calendars each year. It was so exciting to count down the days to Christmas and get a chocolate treat too.

Now that my husband and I have a family we have some traditions we share with our children. Most of them have been adopted from our childhood that we enjoyed doing with our parents and gave us fond memories. Here are a few that we share as a family~

• Each Christmas Eve we congregate as a family, order Chinese food and watch "Miracle on 34Th Street"
• On Christmas Eve we make Christmas cookies
• Christmas day we have crepes for breakfast after opening presents
• We make handmade Christmas cards and some handmade gifts
• Watch the holiday specials with the kids
• Look at the Christmas lights together
• Donate toys for children in need
• Decorate the tree together as a family
• My kids love the chocolate christmas calendars. My mother buys them each year for them.

I hope everyone has a holiday filled with love, peace and laughter. Happy Holidays.....