Sometimes my acts of kindness are intentional. I really have to stop and think, “What can I do today to extend kindness?” Who knew it takes thought!?
I was out running errands yesterday, and I felt led to stop by the pizza place. I knew Boss man would be there alone preparing for another day of business, but I also knew, he’s had a rough week.
I walked in and found him sitting at a table.
I sat down beside him, touched his arm and asked, “How’s your heartbeat? Tell me about your week.”
That’s all it took for the floodgates to open.
I just sat and listened.
I didn’t offer my opinion or any advice. I gently touched his arm when he shared something painful, just to reassure him of my presence.
Twenty minutes later, he was unburdened.
He began laughing and joking with me as he walked into the kitchen to get it ready for lunch. He was a little more free to enjoy this part of his day.
As I was leaving he thanked me for stopping by, but I didn’t really feel like I did anything. All I did was listen, but that’s all he needed. Let them unload.
I walked out of the store with a bag of love. Just realized my purchases of a candle and body-wash are named ‘Love’. Maybe I needed some extra love…
I had just read a Blog by a fellow Blogger who was hurt by people walking out of her life. Letting them walk in wasn’t the issue. It was when they mysteriously disappeared she took it personally.
I left a comment on my friends Blog.
It sounds cliche but it calms my mind. The comment was, “People come into our lives for a reason, a season, or a lifetime. I haven’t had many ‘or’s.”
People come into our lives to reveal something. We also have the opportunity to make their lives better in some way. I’ve had a lot of people leave my life, but my hope is I helped them in some way. They taught me things that made me better.
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When feeling alone, self care is crucial.
My bedroom is my sanctuary and I enjoy spending time there. Find a space that feeds your soul. Light a candle named, ‘Love’ and breathe it in.
Be kind to your soul and don’t beat yourself up. If anything, remind yourself just how beautiful you truly are. This sits beside my bed as a reminder.
“You have a Beautiful Soul.”
They say wrapping something around your shoulders brings comfort. We want that feeling of being held, but we’re alone. A small child has a favorite blanket, and I haven’t outgrown blankets.
There is a lightweight blanket in almost every room of my home. When I need comfort, I wrap one around my shoulders and it’s like a warm hug.
This one lays across my bed.
It has balls when I’m not feeling very ballsy.
We live, we love and hopefully we learn.
People come in and out through a revolving door. Not everyone is meant to stay a lifetime. Can you imagine if everyone stayed? Holy cow!
Something else that helps heal is writing.
If you are a Blogger/Writer you already know this, but not every thought needs to be published. You feel like banging out the pain on a keyboard, but I use an online journal for moments like that.
I bought this notebook to motivate my continuance of the Morning Pages. At first glance, I thought it was a cheetah print. My daughter went through her cheetah print phase years ago, so this made me smile. Looking at it now, it really looks like fire. 🙂
Cheetah print or burning embers?
Writing will help process thoughts and sort through feelings. I used to spend time and energy trying to figure out what happened, but that’s fruitless.
Today, I can just let it be.
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I posted a meme that said, ‘Calm is a superpower‘. As we begin a new week, I wish to show you some more power. You have more power than you know.
No matter what is happening around us, we have the power to keep it from crawling into our mind.
My daughter returned home from England with new ideas. One was, she asked me to buy instant coffee. I guess they drink instant coffee in England?
Our coffee paraphernalia had outgrown the intimate kitchen, so I began setting up a coffee bar in the breezeway. We needed an electric kettle.
Here enters the magic pot.
Isn’t it pretty? It’s rather magical as well.
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This morning I walked by and flipped the switch of the magic pot for the water to begin heating. After drinking one cup of instant, I wasn’t satisfied.
It also left a foul taste in my mouth.
I went in search of the Chemex.
There is nothing quick about making a Chemex. The pour over kettle heats slowly. You place a Chemex filter in and splash it with warm water, then grind the beans and pour them in. Making a Chemex takes about 15 minutes and patience.
After it’s all prepped you get to watch it make the coffee. Yes lovely. You get to stand back and watch.
That is how life is.
Really good things don’t happen instantly. Give it time. One example is, my Virtual Assistant job.
The man I work for surprises me with bonuses. It’s not that I did a spectacular job for him one particular week. No love, it’s that I try and do my very best every week. The time and effort add up.
Out of nowhere he sends bonus money.
I never know when he will do this, but it happens a couple of times a year. It’s not something I depend on by no means. It’s his way of saying ‘thank you’ for spending quality time on his business.
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Another example is our writing.
Just like the Chemex, we tend to our Blog and consistently click ‘publish’. We pour everything into to it and it takes time, but at some point, we get to stand back and watch it bless other people’s lives.
Like my bonus, we don’t know when that magic will occur, but everything worthwhile takes time.
My daughter and I have this thing going on with the box of Bounce dryer sheets. Every time I reach in the cabinet to retrieve the box, the lid of the box is mashed in. It makes me smile when I see it.
It shows me my daughter has her own way of doing things. When I use the bounce box, I ‘tuck’ the lid in, but she just mashes it. I’ve never showed her how to properly close the box, so she adapted her own way.
She’s growing up, and doesn’t ask very often how to do things anymore. I’m glad. I’m not the type of Mother that believes it has to be done a certain way.
I want her to find her own way.
Maybe I will find her way better and mash the lid down too! If I was the last person to use it, she sees that it’s tucked, so she can choose to tuck it instead.
I’m not going to ask her to conform.
We have our own way of doing things, but at least they get done. You just keep doing you darling because it makes me smile. Just like my boss told me, “It’s only Pizza!“, this is only the bounce box!
When I leave to go home, God shows me a little snippet of why I’m there. Last night was no exception. I made mistakes.
I work the front of the restaurant alone.
Lastnight, several families came in at once.
I was trying to take their order as quickly as possible and get them seated, so they could enjoy their evening meal. I need to stop moving so quickly.
Two families ordered beer with their pizza. The register has changed. You used to be able to tap the name of the beer and it would add it automatically, but we’ve added pitchers of beer along with mugs.
Now you have to choose the size, or it doesn’t know the dollar amount to charge. Just the name of the beer and $0.00 appear. I forgot to tap the ‘mug’ size, so I had just given 4 people free beer. 😦
I addressed one couple about my mistake. They didn’t think anything of it. The woman came up to the counter to pay, and ordered two more.
Then there was this sweet, elderly couple sitting over in the corner. Sipping their beer and enjoying the pizza. I didn’t have the heart to tell them!
I told myself that I would suck up my mistake, and cover the cost of their beers, but God had other plans. God doesn’t want us to carry the burden of a mistake. He wants us to learn from it and move on.
The elderly gentleman came up to the counter holding an empty glass. He asked for a refill, and that’s when I apologized and told him I hadn’t charged him for the previous two. He understood and handed me enough cash for all three.
He placed the remaining dollars in the tip jar!
Something like this happens when I begin to rush. I make mistakes, but I continue to learn. The owner of the restaurant doesn’t want me beat myself up. He always says, “C’mon Barb! It’s only pizza!”
I’m grateful each time someone nominates me, but it pains me to write a Blog that long in response, so the buck usually stops here. 🙂
If I type over 600 words in a post, I begin to hyperventilate, but I want to share his Blog.
Gary inspires me. A couple of months ago, he lost everything in a fire that ran through his town. I always tell myself, “Things can be replaced”, but it would still be devastating to lose every little thing.
He has not moaned, or whined about it. Instead he’s in a mellow space, and closer than ever to God.
Gary is a fine example by sharing what’s on his heart, that God does bring beauty from ashes.
