DAILY GRATITUDE - KINDNESS

 

Today I’m grateful for kindness:

When greed for money seems to rule the world

kindness is a concept I’d rather get behind….

because when you stop and look around…

it cost nothing to be kind.

KINDNESS AND LOVE

 

May we be blessed to understand in ever corner of the world

from every mountaintop to every valley…

from every coast to coast…

kindness and love will always be 

the two things we need the most.

A LITTLE KINDER

 

Every day we get a little closer to dying…that’s just reality…

although we don’t know exactly when our last day on Earth will be.

So each day as we move a little closer to the end…

we should try and get a little closer to our family and friends…

Since once a day is over…never to repeat

each day we should try to be a little kinder to everyone we meet.

A little kinder to all the people who look or act differently… 

A little kinder to the animals…to the air, the land…the sea.

And each day as we try to be a little kinder to the world…

wouldn’t it be swell…

If we could try to be a little kinder to ourselves as well.

For there are no more beautiful words that can e’er be said…

when it’s our time to live no more…

than: 

everyday we tried to be a little kinder 

than we were the day before.

DAILY GRATITUDE- EARS AND NOSE

 

As someone who’s had trouble seeing without the aid of lenses 

since I was a little pup…

today I’m thankful for my ears and nose….

For, without them…

I’d have no way to hold my glasses up.

NATURE'S SIMPLICITY

 

May we be blessed to be more like nature…

filled with peace

beauty

and diversity

able to enjoy life’s complexities

and well as her simplicity

A WOMAN OF MYSTERY

 

Take any walk upon this Earth and quickly you will see

how the one we call Mother Nature is a woman of mystery.

Like any woman of mystery she has features over time she will reveal 

as well as little secrets of her own she prefers to keep concealed.

Like how sitting by a stream can help to ease one’s pain.

how a dew drop smiles on a leaf…or how a flower greets the rain.

Like why rabbits hop in silence while mockingbirds songs are loud…

or why there is a peacefulness among the trees and serenity in the clouds.

Like why are sharks so fierce as they swim the seven seas

while there is nothing more gentle…more tender 

than the giant manatee?

Oh…but when I stop to think about Mother Nature’s mysteries

I don’t really want to know…

why in a place that seems impossible…a single flower grows.

In truth there are so many wonders of nature I hope I never find the reasons why…

like how a sunrise or sunset can paint so many colors across the sky.

It’s simple really…as I walk upon the Earth each morning…

on whatever of her wonders I happen to gaze….

I’ll let Mother Nature keep her secrets…

because…I prefer to be amazed.

VINCENT AND THE STARS

 

Today I’m thankful for the stars and the words of Vincent Van Gogh 

(I hold these in high esteem)

For my part I know nothing of any certainty

but the sight of stars makes me dream.

STARS

 

When we look up at the stars

may we be blessed… their glow and beauty to savor…

And when we see them looking back at us…

do our best to return the favor.

UNDER THE STARS

 

When you walk under the stars in the early morning…quiet and serene…

have you ever stopped to wonder about all the things those stars have seen?

In all the years they’ve hovered over us…as well as every mountain… every sea

think of all that they have witnessed…every joy…every tragedy.

Think of all the plans they’ve seen made…some wonderful…some misbegotten.

Think of all the dreams they’ve seen come true…and all the other ones forgotten. 

Think of all the love they’ve seen shared…before each life is through.

think what it must be like for them to witness all the hatred too.

I wonder if we really understand how the stars have been watching us…

from the moment our first breath is drawn…

and how they will be watching…long after we are gone.

And since they share with us their stardust from the moment of our birth…

shouldn’t we try to be more like the stars in our time upon the Earth?

To live knowing everyone we see is our sister and our brother…

to glow as bright we can glow…and shed our light on one another. 

In the short time we are here…in this life that we are notching…

shouldn’t we try to glow as pure and bright as we can glow…

knowing all the stars are watching.

DAILY GRATITUDE. I LOVE YOU

 

Today I’m grateful for the two most important parts of the words ‘I Love You’ 

The ability to say it to someone…so they will know it…

and once said…for the ability to show it.

TWO HALVES OF LOVE

 

May we be blessed to experience both halves of the gift of love

(At least the way I see it…the way that I believe)

The first is how wonderful it is to give it…

The second…how wonderful it is to receive.

WHY I DAY I LOVE YOU

 

A note to everyone in my life whom I love… 

In case you’re wondering why I say ‘I Love You’ so often…

why from my lips these three words continue to flow

why I keep repeating something you already know…

It’s because from the moment I started loving you….

when I realized I have the knack….

I will never tire of saying ‘I Love You’

or hearing ‘I Love You’ back.

It’s because if for some reason I was gone tomorrow…

I’d like you all to know…at the end of all your tears

you'll have enough of my ‘I Love You’s’ stored inside your heart…

to last all of your years.

DAILY GRATITUDE MOMENTS

 

Today I’m grateful for every moment I’m alive

every moment I can touch, hear, taste and see…

for every moment I get to share

with my friends and family.

FRIENDSHIP IS THE GLUE

 

I hope someday we’re blessed to understand…

as we’re torn apart by the hate and anger we’re desperately trying to weather.

how love and friendship is the glue

that can hold the world together.

MOMENTS OF FRIENDSHIP

 

Some words have the ability to go beyond themselves…

to transform us…to transcend:

Who is the first person who enters your mind 

when you hear the words

my friend?

When you focus on those words for a while…

How many other faces do you see?

How many other friends are waiting to be acknowledged

as they line up in your memory?

When we reach into our memory 

and stoke those friendship embers…

the first thing we see are our friends’ faces 

but it’s the moments of friendship we remember.

We remember moments we have shared 

throughout the days and months and years

the joy, the laughter, the sorrow

the sadness and the tears.

We cherish those moments of friendship

and are thankful for how long their memories last…

keeping us close to friends who have moved away…

and others who have passed.

And when we think of friends still with us…still nearby

we are thankful…we’re elated

for the moments of friendship we will share

that have yet to be created.

So in those times when life slows down 

when we have some extra time to spend….

We’ll have so many moments to remember 

every time we hear the words…

my friend

DAILY GRATITUDE- BEING A RAINBOW

 

Today I’m thankful for all those people

who stand out in a crowd…

Who, as Maya Angelou says…

try to be a rainbow…in someone else’s cloud.

RAINBOWS

 

May we be blessed to understand in life…

there will always be a little pain…

while remembering a rainbow cannot be created

without a little rain.

CHASING RAINBOWS

 

The rain had stopped…the sun was about to set…

It was the perfect time for a rainbow chaser such as I…

to watch and wait for that multi-colored arch to form across the sky.

The conditions couldn’t be more perfect…the sun setting after a storm…

but as I waited…as I searched the sky…the rainbow never formed.

 

Still…I am undeterred…the next time the conditions are right

to the sky I will be facing….

For the next time I just might see that rainbow I am chasing.

I do not know why sometimes…when everything seems perfect…

when the conditions are just right….

sometimes I won’t see a rainbow…while other times…I might.

I suppose that’s what keeps me chasing rainbows…

all throughout the years….

waiting to feel the joy and celebrate the moment one appears.

In some ways life is a lot like chasing rainbows…

Sometimes conditions are perfect to reach whatever goal we’ve sought…

and sometimes we will catch that rainbow…

while other time…we will not.

But fear not…for anytime we miss a rainbow…

all is not as bad as it may seem….

because in between the rainbows we catch…

and the rainbows we do not…

there is room for our wishes, hopes and dreams.