Pass It On

Have you had a kindness shown?
Pass it on;
'Twas not given for thee alone,
Pass it on;
Let it travel down the years,
Let it wipe another's tears,
'Til in Heaven the deed appears -
Pass it on.
~Rev. Henry Burton

Wishing you a beautiful weekend!

Doreen

Joining Beverly and friends at Pink Saturday

Making a Difference - One Can At A Time

We visited the Canstruction exhibit at the New York State Museum last week. Thousands of cans of food are used to construct giant sculptures. Visitors are encouraged to bring canned goods and cast a vote for their favorite design by placing a can in the bin next to it.  After the exhibit and competition are over, the sculptures are deconstructed and all of the canned goods are distributed to local food banks.   How GREAT is that!  Visit the Canstruction web site for upcoming events, more information on the charity and how to get involved. 


Local food pantries and food banks are always in need of donations.  Remember them when you are able.  Many indicate that the most desirable items are:

•Canned tuna and other canned meats
•Canned fruit and vegetables
•Canned soups and stews
•Peanut butter
•Canned tomato products
•Cereal
•Condiments
•Baby formula and diapers
•Toiletries

If you can't feed a hundred people, then feed just one.
~Mother Teresa  

Have a beautiful day!

Doreen 

Heartfelt Thanks

This morning I caught myself doing it.

I had a week-old e-mail from a friend and had forgotten to circle back with a "Thank you" for the interesting information she took time to send. 

You know what they say, "better late than never". 

Feeling gratitude and not expressing it, is like

wrapping a present and not giving it.
~William Arthur Ward

Expressions of gratitude, no matter how small,

are a wonderful reflection of others' kindnesses

and also an act of our kindess in turn.

Today...

♦  I'll be looking at my e-mail history to see if I've missed any other thank yous.

♦  I want to spend my day being very aware of how I say thank you

    - making sure I'm sincerely expressing my thanks and appreciation

      with my whole self.

Finally today I want to give a heartfelt thank you to all who have supported me with this blog - especially since I am still finding my way in the early stages.  Your comments and encouragement mean so much!  ♥ Thank you! ♥

Do you have any wrapped presents that you have not given?

 

Wishing you a beautiful day!
Doreen

Nurture Your Friendships

My daughter made these little bunny pins for her friends to wear this Easter. 

We are mailing some and hand delivering the others this weekend.   She is eager to share her kindness and spread joy.

Friendship can weather most things and thrive in thin soil - but it needs a little mulch of letters and phone calls and small silly presents every so often  - just to save it from drying out completely.
~Pam Brown

Be extra kind to your friends today!

Wishing you a beautiful weekend!

Doreen

Joining Beverly and friends at Pink Saturday

Time For An Act Of Kindness

 Ahhhhh...Sometimes I love to procrastinate!  Doesn't everyone have their days?  For many years I worked as a project manager and was intensely focused on always meeting time lines.  I even carried that mindset into my personal life, to a degree.  Perhaps as a little backlash from everything having to be so tidy and on time, on the homefront I would allow some things to slide now and then.  It felt freeing to float to the other side of life - just relax more.  I confess that I began to make more of a habit out of it.   Along the way,  I discovered that some of the things I had procrastinated doing were better left undone.  Ultimately I had  learned something about myself - that I wasn't completing something because it didn't hold my interest- or it simply wasn't me.  But, for other things, there was another important lesson.  I started to see my postponements as a road block to kindness.  Last winter when the snow started to fly and my daughter's winter coats and sweaters needed to be packed up for donation, I realized I should have done it much earlier.  Every day, that had already gone by, was a day that another child could have had one of these great coats wrapped around them.  What was I waiting for?   Our donations were washed and packaged and out the door in no time.  I assessed my ongoing "To Do" list and began to see a lot of "my postponements" in the same light.   I didn't want kindness to wait any longer!

Three things are coming off the "To Do" list TODAY.   

• I will reorganize our home office, so my husband has more productive and inspiring surroundings to work in. 
• I commit to reach out to three people that I have not heard from.
• I promise to give an extra special thank you to a friend.

What have you been procrastinating?  Is there an act of kindness waiting in the wings?

Wishing you a beautiful day!

Doreen

Lights Are Shining All Over The World

Each time we share kindness, our light shines.  And each time we receive a kindness we may bask in the glow.  Imagine lights aglow, all over this beautiful earth from acts of kindness and love.

What a truly amazing world we live in today!  We have so many quick and convenient ways to communicate and engage with our friends, family and the rest of the world.  We can phone, e-mail, access the world wide web, see each other on web cams, and get on planes, trains and automobiles.   It follows, in ways of showing kindness, we too live in an amazing time.  Imagine what is was like before these wonderful advances, coming to the aid of a friend in need who lived miles away before there were phones and cars.  Today we can use our cell phones to text help to the victims of crises all around the world and use other forms to send help and donations wherever needed.  We can reach out to friends, family or our troops to support them in far away places.  It's truly incredible how connected we are and how able we are to do great things than ever before.  More than ever, our lights can shine bright, reaching farther than our ancestors ever dreamed.

 

We cannot hold a torch to light another's path without brightening our own.
~Ben Sweetland

Let your light shine. Shine within you so that it can shine on someone else. Let your light shine.
~Oprah Winfrey

Let your light shine!

Happy Friday and have a great weekend!

Doreen

Taking Kindness To The Next Level

Great opportunities to help others seldom come,
but small ones surround us every day.
~Sally Koch

While out and about running errands I had made a stop into one of the local stores to use the DIY photo finishing machines for an 8x10 enlargement.   I began to use one of the machines but, for some reason the photo was now opening with a different orientation at the store than it had at home (landscape instead of portrait), creating all sorts of problems in completing my finished project.  Tina, the salesperson came from around the counter, unsolicited to try to lend a hand.  She tried every creative thing she could think of until ultimately she had exhausted all the options.   I told her that I was just fine with the finished product.  I thanked her with all the appreciation that I could possibly work into the close of the sale and a goodbye.

Earlier that day I had been listening to an inspirational talk by Joyce Meyer about giving and she suggested that we should take our giving “to the next level”.     So I started thinking about how could I take everyday kindness to the next level and what that might look like,  for example,  showing my appreciation to Tina, the salesperson- how would I take that to the next level.    I pondered it for a little bit and then it came.   I’ll take it up a notch by letting Tina’s manager know about how exceptional she is.   

Being kind, thankful and appreciative of those who serve us is always a wonderful way to express kindness.   And taking it to the next level when the situation arises may serve to boost someone’s confidence; help with a performance evaluation, promotion, raise, and in this vulnerable economy may even help when jobs are at stake. 

Kindness in words creates confidence.
Kindness in thinking creates profoundness.
Kindness in giving creates love. 
~Lao Tsu

Kind words do not cost much. Yet they accomplish much.
~  Blaise Pascal

How can we take some everyday kindness to the next level?

Doreen