Stories of Kindness from Around the World

Whew, buddies! I forgot how hard it is to push yourself out of your comfort zone sometimes. Good Lord, that whole uncomfortable feeling.... Geez!
Today, as promised to our dearest Waving, I went to that youth summit and when they asked for ideas, did I stay in my seat? Noooooo. No, I had to open my mouth, lol.... ;)
So, I say hey, let's do something with spoken word... Then, I had to talk about it in front of everybody and I felt so awkward. The last thing I wanted to do was be this white person coming in telling people what to do but I also wanted to get involved and put my heart out there, show I care and love people, not just sit stoically and do nothing.... And, getting involved is risky! Yikes. And, putting myself/ourselves out there is tough - like opening myself up to judgment from others AND myself, lol...
So, this other woman teamed up with me and she was amazing. Her ideas were like, so awesome... We created this website (right?! Me, right?!) and came up with this whole timeline of things engaging youth, allowing them to express themselves and take ownership of their art, etc....
And, other groups came up with awesome ideas, a musical, a game... Just to see all these energized people in the same room wanting to engage youth to tap into their passions and heart was just amazing....
So, by the end of the day, I was tired - I know, not good. Not good for Xena, lol... And on the train ride home, I was just trying to hold it, all that self-criticism coming in as the reserves were low... And, I was able to sit with it for a bit, say, yo, babe, you're tired, let's just put this aside for now, come on.....
And, the kids were late in the drop off b/c of traffic and I'm getting all emotional in the car b/c of the exhaustion and I'm like, Look. Look. Even if you make a difference in ONE person's life, even if it's just ONE kid and EVEN if it's just momentary, then I did something, right?
I thought of my grandma. And, I thought of how the times I was in her kitchen made me feel so loved. I thought of how just the memories of sitting in her basement with her watching MTV (when they actually showed VIDEOS, yo! ;) and eating Reese's chocolate peanut butter eggs and, man, oh man, her HUGS!!!!!! Oh God, how awesome that all was..
Like, I have to write this quick 'cause I KNOW this gets her a little miffed up there floating around in the big blue sky... but part of it's true. If she was still around, whew, I wouldn't have needed much else in this world. I'd STILL be in that basement watching SOME kind of MTV or something, eating those Reese's till I got sick and I'd probably never leave. Seriously.
But, I know, I know, that's NOT what I was meant to do. Ay! Something else is along this path.... Or at least, I hope so....
But, the point is her existence in my life showed me what it meant to be cherished by someone, to be loved.... and at least I have an idea what that's like in my life (besides the chocolate peanut butter ;)
So, you know, I'm going to go out there and for whatever time I have left, I'm going to keep on trying. Just keep on doing. Just keep trying to make whatever small difference in whomever's life I can. Even if it's small and not memorable, if it just carries them to the next moment, then I did something. At least I tried.
And, yeah, I might be awkward, but I'm willing to learn, I want to learn other people's perspectives and share our hearts. I want to connect heart-to-heart with as many as I can, make us touch the essence of what Life is really about, even if for a moment...
Right? Like, that's the mission. Keep the eyes on the mission, Xena. Keep going forward, one step at a time, no matter how uncomfortable it may feel, no matter how out of place, no matter what I have to learn...
Maybe, if I'm lucky, they'll be some hugs along the way.... ;)
Cool thing is once the kiddos arrived, I bounced my ideas off it and my oldest (my teen) ACTUALLY liked it! I was like What!?! Alright.
Alright, alright. Maybe I'm headed in the right direction after all, lol....