Happy Tuesday,
How is everyone doing this fine Tuesday evening? I do hope all is well with everyone. Everything seems to be okay here. Not too much to report. Started back to the gym yesterday. Extremely light weights only. I will say, that kicked my butt. I was out for the count last night. I plan on trying to do a little bit of weights with my arms every other day, and hopefully incorporating some pool time with that will help tone me up and strengthen my core and arms a little bit. I did receive a nice text from one of my nieces yesterday. She was so kind about my blog. She said she thinks I’m a wonderful writer and that she thinks I should share it more because she thinks I can help a lot of people with my writing. That really touched my heart, so a huge shout out and thank you to Valerie. My whole goal for my blog is to help people see that they aren’t alone and as a community, we can be there for each other.
Speaking of my wonderful compliment that I got from Valerie, it made me stop and think about another person who recently reached out to me. Her name is Mariah. It was about a week ago I got a knock on the door and there was a package that was delivered, addressed to me. I stopped for a moment to think about anything that I may have ordered and nothing came to mind, so I quickly opened my package and inside was the beautifully gift wrapped coffee set with a coaster and socks. Mariah sent me a gift. This is a woman that I’ve never personally met. We’ve messaged back and forth a few times and we’ve talked about her business a little bit. She is in the “Happy” business, and sells a coffee, which by the way is absolutely wonderful in taste. If any of you are interested in a happy boost with an added benefit of calm and a little weight management/loss, let me know and I’ll get you in contact with her. Anyway, she reads my blog and like I said, we correspond back an forth about the coffee and supplements, my blog and just life in general. I have to say, Mariah is one of the kindest and most genuine people I’ve ever come in contact with.
Yesterday, Mariah reached out to me again and simply asked how things were with me. I told her a little bit about what was going on and I thanked her for always reaching out to see how I am. She’s such a compassionate person. In our course of messaging back and forth, I told her how much I appreciate her always reaching out to just check on me. She kindly said to me, “there’s so much anger and hate out there these day, just trying to do what I can to put some light and love back into people’s lives.” I think she’s on the right road to putting light and love back into people’s lives, I know she did that for me.
“Unexpected kindness is the most powerful, least costly, and most underrated agent of human change.”-Bob Kerrey. Being kind cost us nothing and we can receive so much happiness when we are kind to others. We live in such a “me” world it seems. Sometimes when I’m out on my scooter going to the store, I can’t tell you how many times I’ve almost been hit by a car. I ride on the sidewalk, but when I go to cross the street, sometimes people are in such a hurry that they fail to stop or slow down at the intersections. Not being able to drive has really given me an appreciation for needing to slow down. I’m not in such a hurry anymore. Heck, my scooter only goes 5 MPH. When I’m out and about scootering around, I am able to enjoy the scenery around me. I am able to acknowledge people passing by, waking their dogs, or taking their babies out for a stroll. For the most part when I’m on my scooter and I go into a store, people bend over backwards to offer me assistance. Their kindness really relaxes me and brings me an overall peaceful feeling. Hopefully sooner then later, I’ll experience more kindness on the road and less road rage. I’m hopeful.
“If you see someone falling behind, walk beside them. If you see someone being ignored, find a way to include them. If someone has been knocked down, lift them up. Always remind people of their worth. One small act could mean the world to them.”-lessons learned. How good do you feel when someone compliments you? Or, how awesome is it when a young person helps you with your grocery’s, loading them into your car perhaps, or they open the door for you? My whole purpose in writing my blog was to interact with people, and to let you all know that you don’t have to struggle in this life alone. I wanted this to be not only a platform for those who have left toxic relationships and religions, but a platform for whoever wanted and needed to express themselves and hopefully receive feedback. The world needs more empathy and less judgment.
I know what it’s like to be judged. I know what it’s like to be shunned and I know what it’s like to fall and have nobody there to help me up. I’ve climbed many a mountains alone, and while I’m stronger for it, there are times I feel as though I’m still looking for my worth. I’ve heard it said that the surest way to lose your self worth is by trying to find it through the eyes of others. So, with that being said, I’m trying to find my worth in myself rather than in what everyone else says. I do value the opinions of others, however, it’s time for me to not only find myself, but embrace who I am, who I was meant to be and my journey in this life.
Receiving a gift from someone I’ve never met has reminded me that there are so many wonderful people in this world. People are compassionate and do things for others simply to be kind, with no strings attached and I love the mindset of Mariah, that there’s too much hate in the world, it’s time to spread more love. Simple acts of kindness, a kind word to someone, maybe just a smile, whatever the act of kindness is, the world certainly needs more of that and less judgment and harshness.
I can honestly say that I have a handful of people in my life that I know beyond any shadow of doubt would be there for me with a simple phone call or text. I want to be one of those people who does what I can do to make a change in this world. We have so much disconnect from one another, especially with this Covid pandemic and all the shelter in place orders. I think it’s time to reach out again and check in on those in our contact lists. It doesn’t matter if we know someone or if we are just meeting someone for the first time, kindness, compassion, love and acceptance will make the world a better place.
There’s a song that comes to mind, “What the world needs now,”-Jackie De Shannon. “What the world needs now is love, sweet love, no not just for some, but for everyone. Lord, we don’t need another mountain….there are mountains and hillsides, enough to climb, there are oceans and rivers, enough to cross, enough to last ’til the end of time. What the world needs now is love, sweet love, it’s the only thing there’s just too little of.” Maybe our kindness towards each other, towards people in general will be the way we spread this love? The world certainly needs more love and we can all experience this love by being kind to each other, helping each other, including and accepting each other, no matter who we are or where we’ve come from. Take it from me, someone who has received countless acts of kindness, love and acceptance from “the world,” it can turn someone’s entire day from the negative to a positive.
I hope to always be a source of encouragement for each and everyone of you. I hope to always show kindness to everyone I come in contact with. I hope to be a part of what the world needs more then ever, and that is, accepting, kind, loving and compassionate, without judgement. Thank you to my niece Valerie for your kind words of encouragement to keep writing and thank you to my friend Mariah, who showed me a simple act of kindness, that reminded me, one gesture can change not only a day for someone, but it can change their entire outlook on life. Thank you all for everything you do and continue to do in supporting me with my blog and standing by me on this crazy journey of life. Until next time, don’t forget, Love Life++
Love Life with Dawna 