DAILY GRATITUDE COURAGE TO BE KIND

 

When surrounded by the horrors of our hatred

I am grateful for those who have the ability to find…

In the midst of the most difficult of situations….

the courage to be kind.

CLOTHE IN KINDNESS

 

This morning when you’re thinking about exactly how to dress

as the world searches for ways to make hatred and violence cease

may you clothe yourself in kindness…

in compassion, humility

and peace.

SHARED KINDNESS

 

Knowing life is fleeting…may we always be prepared

to make the most of every moment with another person…

every moment shared.

 

Understanding how blessed we are…how lucky

In a world so vast and wide…

for that stranger, that friend or family member

standing by our side…

And hoping in that moment

we both come away inspired…

knowing the kindness we just showed each other

was all that either of us desired.

LOVE LITTLE PRINCE STYLE

 

I am grateful for understanding Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s advice

Which I offer to you with my affection:

“Love does not consist of gazing at each other

but in looking outward together in the same direction.

LOVE AND OUR SOUL

May we all be blessed 

to know the kind of love Zora Neal Hurston wrote about….

even if only a trace….

The kind of love that makes your soul

crawl out of it’s hiding place. 

CIRCLES OF LOVE

 

 As I watched the waves gently glide onto shore the other day

having rippled out from some unseen sailboat’s wake

I was reminded as a child how I loved to watch the circles form

once I tossed a stone into the middle of a lake.

I was mesmerized how out of one stone’s wake 

perfect concentric circles would flow…

how each repeated circle began life small..

and how large each one would grow.

I loved watching those circles spread out across the lake…

in a silent rhythmic beat

until they found their way to shore…and rested at my feet.

Sometimes I would count the seconds…timing how long it would take

for a circle, once it began it’s journey…to find it’s way across the lake.

Now…as I remembered a time when the world seemed more innocent and calm…

I wondered…when did the stones we once so innocently tossed 

turn into bullets and missiles and bombs.

And how is it our politicians….our lawmakers…our leaders…

after all these years still don’t understand….still do not know

the damage every bullet…every missile and every bomb will do…

and how far the circles of hatred they create will go.

How each bullet, missile and bomb they toss..

destroying buildings and killing people on their streets

will eventually have the ripple effect…and land back at their feet.

So while governments continue to toss their bullets, 

their missiles 

their bombs…

unaware, or worse, unconcerned with their ever-widening circles of hate…

I prefer to toss stones of love into my lake…stand on the shore

and see what kind of world those circles of love create.

DAILY GRATITUDE UNDERSTANDING ABOUT CHILDREN

 

I am grateful for understanding :

When a world of pain and sadness is all that I can see

I need only look to the innocence of our children

to restore my faith in humanity…

And grateful for remembering…

All children are accepting and generous and loving

all begin life with kindness in their eyes.

They know nothing of hatred, 

hostility 

and prejudice

until we teach them otherwise.