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Appreciating a Neighbor's Garden

I have discovered the joy of speaking to strangers and now that I have crossed the age of 50 there is less danger of being misunderstood. The best thing about it is seeing the surprise and happiness of others when they are addressed or are included in the sharing a thought. Invariably, one kind gesture is returned with more kindness.

During my morning walk one day, I noticed a bush in front of a house that had half-opened buds of my favorite flowers that reminded me of my childhood. I went close to the bush for a better look and noticed the house lady looking at me curiously. I smiled and told her that I loved the flowers for their fragrance. She reciprocated. “I plucked them all for my morning prayers. You can have some,” she offered. I was touched by her generosity and blessed her in my heart for making  my day. 

A Desert that Learned to Smile

Many summers ago in a faraway Desert, a seedling came along to be and share herself with the scorched barren land. She was a young lavender colored flower in the Desert where all was dry and sullen. It was as if the Desert sat alone, depressed and dry. The flower's name was Violeta and she was blooming on her own. She enjoyed every day and would often ask the Sun, "When shall I be all grown up"? The Sun would smile by shining and say, "Be patient. Each time I touch you, you grow a little." Violeta was so pleased to have this opportunity to grow because she wanted so much to have a chance to bring beauty to this corner of the sand. That truly was all she wanted to do; bring a little splash of color to this side of the lonely world. Suddenly, one day, a Hunter came ... Read Full Story >>

The Giving Tree

Many of you may have read Shel Silverstein's classic story "The Giving Tree" about a tree which gives everything of herself to a boy she loves. (If you haven't read it, please do and share it with a child!) During my childhood, my mother's friend gave the book to me and my brother.  Many years later, I discovered a card that accompanied the gift--it said "The tree reminds me of your mother".  I was so touched by this that I taped the card to the inside of the book. Over the years (like in the story) I have watched my mother give selflessly, to her kids, family, neighbors and friends.  Even when she had a serious illness earlier this year, she continued with her volunteer work, cooking for sick friends, and walking for various causes.  She does it all without any fuss and everyone knows they can always count on her--because she ... Read Full Story >>

Sandwich and Tea for the Man in the Doorway

I was in my city centre the other day, something I rearely do because it is so busy, noisy and unfriendly.  I walked past the shopping centre and noticed a youngish man sitting in the doorway of a shuttered shop. Something about the way he huddled into his grubby blankets against the cold steel shutters, his straggly, sandy hair blowing about his face in the wind and rain, made me feel so much compassion. It was as if even the buildings were against him, shutting him out, telling him there was no place for him here.  I went to a sandwich shop and bought him a sandwich and a take-away tea. I took them back to him and we didn't exchange conversation really, I just said, "I've brought you a bite to eat," and he said, "Thanks very much" and gave me a lop-sided smile -- as if he didn't have enough happiness ... Read Full Story >>

Being Just The Way You Are

A water bearer in China had two large pots, each hung on the ends of a pole which he carried across his neck. One pot had a crack in it, while the other pot was perfect and always delivered a full portion of water. At the end of the long walk from the stream to the house, the cracked pot arrived only half full. For a full two years this went on daily, with the bearer delivering only one and a half pots full of water to his house. Of course, the perfect pot was proud of its accomplishments, perfect for which it was made. But the poor cracked pot was ashamed of its own imperfection, and miserable that it was able to accomplish only half of what it had been made to do. After 2 years of what it perceived to be a bitter failure, it spoke to the ... Read Full Story >>

Gratitude: The Key To Good Health

Gratitude is becoming quickly a central concept in the area of Positive Psychology. While there are various ways to express gratitude, what seems most important is that you find a way to express it that works for you. Frequently, a gratitude journal is used. You may have a specific notebook that is devoted just to writing what you're grateful for. The gratitudes need to stay fresh and you need to be emotionally invested when you write them if gratitude is to develop and deepen. For this reason, often writing daily is not the best route. Nor is reporting over and over the same items for which you are grateful, even though certainly you are still grateful for them. Expressing gratitude requires an "alive" and vibrant experience. You need to allow yourself to feel the gratitude in your body. Other ways to express gratitude include writing a letter of gratitude to individuals ... Read Full Story >>

Finding An Opportunity To Help Someone Deserving

I belong to a networking group that sends out daily emails about local events and member updates.  Occasionally, resumes will be sent on behalf of members seeking employment.  I always review these in case I can create opportunities for others.  My company is struggling, so I don't have any jobs to offer.  But, as is my habit, I read a resume that was recently sent out.  I have a part-time job creating resumes and can quickly detect a strong or a weak profile. Last week, I read a resume that had a couple of errors.  It was clear that the errors were due to a language barrier.  However, I was concerned that hiring managers would skip this woman's resume due to the errors. I emailed the lady and offered to help her spruce up her resume at no cost.  I think she was surprised, but she accepted.  As I worked on her ... Read Full Story >>

Smiling with a Purpose in the Workplace

   Ever since I found this website and joined your wonderful group of 'SMILERS', I have realized the true power of a Smile.  Earlier, I used to smile a lot, (thankfully smiling has always come very easily to me), but after I joined this website, it has added a new meaning, and now when I smile, there is a purpose – to spread happiness - to keep on smiling until I receive a smile back. It so happens that I work in an ‘analyst department’ where the members are always ploughing away at their work quite seriously, clicking the mouse, typing in the numbers, searching the net... you know how it is.  Prior, to my joining the team there was always a loud silence, broken only by hushed whispers, mouse clicks or keyboard sounds.  But today, I must confess after more than six months of “smiling with a purpose”, I can see ... Read Full Story >>

Two Wolves

Two Wolves - A Cherokee Parable An old Cherokee chief was teaching his grandson about life...   "A fight is going on inside me," he said to the boy. "It is a terrible fight and it is between two wolves."   "One is evil - he is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, self-doubt, and ego."   "The other is good - he is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith."   "This same fight is going on inside you - and inside every other person, too."   The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather, "Which wolf will win?"   The old chief simply replied, "Whichever one you feed."     ... Read Full Story >>

A Birthday Lunch With An Extra Smile

My son and I were out of town for the weekend.  Whilst we were out and about, we found a little cafe and decided to have lunch there.  After we had sat down at our table, I noticed an elderly couple having lunch at a table across the room.  I must have looked over at them a few times because my son asked me if I knew them.  I replied that I didn’t, but that they reminded me of my own grandparents.  When the waitress came over, I asked her if she knew them.  She said she did.  She said it was the elderly man’s birthday today.  I wanted to do something for them so I told the waitress that I wanted to pay for their lunch and gave her some money.  Sometime later, the elderly couple came over to thank us.  They were so excited that someone had bought ... Read Full Story >>

Kindness Even When It's The Challenging Kind

I always try to be kind where I can and it usually comes reasonably easily to me to be kind to strangers or semi-strangers. I’ve discovered that it seems to be harder for me to be kind to the people who are closely related to me. I like spending time with my grandparents, who live only 5 minutes away from me, but I sometimes find it stressful and challenging. At their age (they are over 75 years old) they seem to have accumulated a lot of resentment and negativity although they were not like this before. My grandma seems to say negative things about others at any opportunity and my granddad gets immensely stressed and hyper and highly strung about the simplest of things. Last week I visited them a couple of times, and ended up feeling really stressed myself at the end of each visit although there were some good moments. ... Read Full Story >>

Trusting in the Kindness of Strangers

While driving from my home on the long commute to work I noticed a car in front of me had a wobbly wheel. It was clear the wheel had been changed recently and had not been fixed correctly. On a slow road this would not present much of a problem but I knew the route and knew a motorway was coming soon where the traffic would move much faster and would be very dangerous as the wheel could very well come off at that speed. I was driving a large jeep at the time and the car in front was a small to mid-sized car driven by a lady on her own. So as I tried to flash my lights and wave her to pull over I was worried that looking in her mirror she would see a lone man chase her down in a jeep waving frantically for her to pull ... Read Full Story >>

A Bus Ride To Happiness

I have had a number of revelations about myself this year. One of which is that whenever I'm feeling sad or down, a foolproof way to cheer myself back up is to help someone else.

One day I was having a horrible time and nothing was going right. (I bet everyone knows how that feels.) So I just hopped on a random bus, wanting to just get away. Right when I got on I saw this sad dejected looking lady. I decided to sit beside her and try to start up a conversation.

When I talked to her she seemed very suprised but she chatted with me anyway. We talked about love and kindness and how there wasn't enough of either in the world. She told me about her deep struggles.

As she was walking off the bus she said that I was her angel and that God brought me to her. In that one conversation, in that one statement, I felt complete contentment and peace with life.

People can be in search of happiness all their lives and never find it. But I truly believe that loving and helping others is the perfect way to find it.

Kindness Journey! Sent Inspiring email

Kindness Journey  I sent inspiring email to about 200 of my contacts. At the airport and in the plane, I prayed to God for well being of some people in the wheelchair and  prayed Samastha Loka Sukhino Bhavantu  May all the beings in all the worlds be happy during the day.  I packed up my kindness tools to start my kindness journey. I am grateful to my brother-in-law for getting me an uber taxi to get me to the airport. I gave Birthday card and some quote cards to the driver. On her approval I told her intense positive thinking story about a lady whose unwavering positive thinking saved her husband's life. I told Fatema's story about how one quote card changed her life for the better. I talked about KindSpring and told some cracked some jokes. The thanked me with smiles.  I give the things to remember that the God residing in me gives to the God ... Read Full Story >>

Helping Out A Mother

The other day I was really glad to be able to help a friend. She had gone back to full time work after years of staying at home to take care of her children. She has been finding it quite hectic, especially because her husband works away a lot and isn't able to help as much as he would like. She had an after-work meeting to attend in the evening and I suggested her children come over and have dinner at our house. I told her not to worry about rushing back because they would be just fine.  We had a lovely time together and my son enjoyed seeing the girls here too. Life being how it is, my friend was a lot later coming back than she thought she'd be. So, when she rushed up to my front door I stopped her, hugged her, and told her to breathe deeply. Her children were lying on the couch reading, ... Read Full Story >>

Cuddly Bears And Beenies

Today, when I was out in town, I went into the pound shop. Everything they sell costs £1.  

An Unexpected Surprise

One morning I heard someone trying to get their car out of the snow after a snowstorm. (A very common sound here in Montreal.) After a few minutes I realized they needed a push, so I got dressed ,went outside, and pushed the car. It only took about a minute and, feeling more cold than sociable, I walked back to my apartment, without really seeing the driver.   Months later I was at the corner store and the guy in front of me insisted on paying for the beer I was buying! It felt a bit awkward and I had to refuse repeatedly. When I reached the cashier she told me my stuff was already paid for and she couldn't take my money.     So, I was walking back home from the store and that same guy is fifty feet in front of me, all the way! It turns out he's my neighbor, ... Read Full Story >>

A SPECIAL MEMORY

I was on my way from work one Mother's Day, and I noticed a man pulled by the side of the road and he was trying to load these huge logs into the back of his pick-up truck. As he attempted to load a log, I noticed every vein and muscle in his body straining to complete the task, but to no avail. I stopped my car and offered a hand. The gentleman looked at me as though I might not have enough strength to assist, but since I was the only one offering help he accepted. Together we lifted the log into the back of his truck and then two more. Admittedly, I was grunting from the weight of the logs. As we were loading the logs, I wondered if he was a craftsman who might be making tables from the huge logs (recently cut down by the city), but he ... Read Full Story >>

Flowers of Gratitude

As most of the flowers in my yard are gone for the year, I made a run to Walmart last night for flowers.

This morning I waited for the neighborhood school bus. As soon as I saw the bus, I flagged it down and gave the flowers to the bus drive Jeanette, who is also my neighbor. The look on her face was priceless!

My children are not school-age anymore, but I do have nieces and nephews that age. I think it takes pretty special people to do this job.

To safely drive, watch over, and deliver so many children is a great responsibility and one that is undoubtedly under appreciated!
 

Lotus Love For You

With love,
from me to all of you.
A lotus from within my pond,
it grew.

Reaching for the light as we all must,
morning dew shining of night's sweet dusk.

Lotus Meaning:
Throughout many cultures over time, the lotus has been a powerful image and a spiritual symbol. In Hindu, Buddhist and Egyptian religions, the lotus is considered a sacred flower.

Among its many meanings and significance, the lotus is a symbol of "spontaneous" generation, and so it also represents divine birth, spiritual development and creation itself.

Namaste