Is is really spring?

Funny how the weather varies from place to place.  Where I grew up there might be snow on the ground this time of year, even though it is officially spring.  In some places it's even hot.  Yes, it's really spring, even if it doesn't seem like it where you are.  Why not pick up a nice bouquet of flowers to put you in the spirit?  Wait!  How about picking up two bouquets and giving one to a friend?

thanks Mom

When Mom passed away on March 25th in 2013, I was a basket case. Seeing a loved one die is a difficult thing. Since then though, while I still miss her a lot, I have become stronger. Everything I am is because of her. She was one of the kindest people I ever have known and also one of the most loving. Mom also left me a note to read after she was gone. In it she said I had been the best son a mother could have, and she wished me a good life. "We'll be together again someday" was how she closed. Thanks Mom, for everything.

ideas are endless

More kindness ideas:  Buy extra at the grocery store and donate it to a food pantry,  Buy flowers for someone (postal worker, grocery store clerk, bus driver, etc.).  Bring coffee to a co-worker.  Help someone change a flat tire.  Post anonymous sticky notes with validating or uplifting messages around for people to find.  Compliment a work colleague on their work.  Send an encouraging text to someone.  Let a car into the traffic ahead of you. 

sharing chocolate

Sharing chocolate is pretty darn kind, don't you think? Actually sharing anything is kind. Right now, I could go for some of that chocolate though - maybe a nice cup of hot chocolate - the kind I used to drink at Christopher Elbow's shop! Yum! I'll share. I promise.

blessings of the day

One Saint Patrick's Day (probably long ago) I was blessed with these words: "May you have the hindsight to know where you’ve been, the foresight to know where you are going, and the insight to know when you have gone too far. Have a long life and a merry one, a quick death and an easy one, a pretty girl and an honest one, and a cold pint and another one!"

Sharing stories

I love hearing stories of kindness.  Sometimes on the local news we hear of a neighborhood hero or maybe on Ellen's show or in a facebook post.  The kind acts that people do always warm my heart and getting all the details is such an extra bonus.  Sharing stories can be done here too - just add them in the comments below!

such an outpouring

Yesterday I attended a funeral.  The church was packed - mourners were in the doorway and spilling outside.  At a luncheon and civic memorial later in the day, the crowd was even bigger.  My heart was warmed to see such an outpouring.  Many present didn't even know the man who died, but they knew he was a good man and they knew the wonderful things he had done.

walking the earth like brothers

It's been many years since Martin Luther King Jr. said “We have flown the air like birds and swum the sea like fishes, but have yet to learn the simple act of walking the earth like brothers.” When will we learn?

Women's Day

On International Women's Day, the words of Mahatma Gandhi come to mind: "Of all the evils for which man has made himself responsible, none is so degrading, so shocking or so brutal as his abuse of the better half of humanity; the female sex."

The inspiring Michael Jordan

Ask Michael Jordan why he succeeds. His response is truly inspiring! "I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed."

kind acts

I've listed various acts of kindness here before. Here are a few more: Volunteer to read to kids in the library. Donate time at a senior center. Give a pair of tickets to a concert or baseball game to a stranger. Send a gift anonymously to a friend. Pay for the person behind you in the movie line. Tell your parents/children why you love them. Give blood. Pay for the meal of the person behind you in the drive-through. Bring flowers to work and share them with coworkers. Can you think of more?

Mom's command

My mother always said March 4th is a command (march forth). Of course I think of Mom more often than this day, but when the calendar turns to this page, I think of Mom's command with a smile. May all the world march forth on March fourth and do kind things for each other!

ethics

Did you know that March is National Ethics Awareness Month?  It's true.  It seems to be that being ethical is also being kind.  Would you agree?

Another beginning

Oh how I love new beginnings.  It's always nice to have a fresh start.  It's especially nice when there are more opportunities to do good and kind things for other people.  Let's march forward into March, enjoying another beginning, and make this month the kindest one ever!