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Difficult Days

“Today was a Difficult Day,” said Pooh.

There was a pause.

“Do you want to talk about it?” asked Piglet.

“No,” said Pooh after a bit. “No, I don’t think I do”

“That’s okay,” said Piglet, and he came and sat beside his friend.

“What are you doing?” asked Pooh.

“Nothing, really,” said Piglet. “Only, I know what Difficult Days are like.
I quite often don’t like talking about it on my Difficult Days either.”

“But goodness,” continued Piglet, “Difficult Days are so much easier
when you know you’ve got someone there for you. And I’ll always be here for you, Pooh.”

And as Pooh sat there, working through in his head his Difficult Day, while the solid, reliable Piglet sat next to him quietly, swinging his little legs…. he thought that his best friend had never been more right.”      A.A. Milne

 

Sending thoughts to those having a Difficult …
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Mentor Times Two

A mentor often shares experiences, but rarely do they know the benefits to their own life.  Having the opportunity to mentor twin girls gave me many unexpected blessings.  When meeting at age five, I  could not have imagined the joy of sharing ice cream treats, and years later seeing them in a National Guard uniform while serving in Kuwait.

Prompted by a writing challenge to address the topic “Was It Worth It” I wrote an article titled “Mentor Times Two.”   To anyone wanting to add something special to your life, I’d encourage you to consider mentoring.  Kids ’n Kinship is the organization that gave me this opportunity.

 

MENTOR TIMES TWO                              

I never liked the term “empty nester.”  So much of my life was spent struggling to adopt my two kids. When they headed off to college, it felt like there was a big hole in my heart. I had …
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Sheltering Orphans

Children in India need warm water for showers. In Tanzania, milk cows will improve the health of orphans. For safety concerns, high school girls need a concrete wall to be built in Guatemala.

To date, 200 Orphanages Worldwide has funded more than 50 projects in 17 countries. Simply put, they provide safety and security for orphans.  While their mission is to raise awareness and funds, a vision to help build projects for 200 orphanages worldwide is what drives them.

Supporters have rallied around the needs of children by providing dormitories, dining halls, community rooms, latrines, and outdoor kitchens. In Tanzania, Africa, a sustainability project is underway to add several milk cows, a herd of sheep, and an enclosure for the animals at their Kahunda campus. This will allow the campus to provide the children with a wider variety of protein, improving their overall health. More greenhouses would result in triple …
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Kindness vs. Covid

Our bodies aren’t just programmed to be nice, they reward us for being kind, scientists say. University of California Riverside psychology professor, Sonja Lyubomirsky, found that genes which trigger inflammation are less in people who perform acts of kindness.  She reports there are more antiviral genes in those who regularly practice being kind.

When psychologists at the University of London questioned the importance of topics including ambition, creativity, tradition, security, kindness, and having an exciting life, guess what came up on top?

“Doing kindness makes you happier and being happier makes you do kind acts” said labor economist, Richard Layard.  Perhaps in addition to making us happy, scattering kindness can also make us healthier.

 

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On A Sweltering Summer Day

Some call it a sweltering summer day. I like to call it a scattering kindness opportunity!

What kid, of any age, doesn’t smile with their first lick of a frozen popsicle on a very hot day? You can be a super hero by simply picking up a box of popsicles and searching for a nearby shelter to drop them off. Hint — shelters are everywhere.

You’ll feel cooler just imagining when the paper comes off that first popsicle. Do it today!

 

 

 

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Why Did Daddy Cry?

A short story to honor all Fathers

 

Today is going to be the best day of my life!  Daddy didn’t need to wake me.  I’ve been looking at that worn-out curtain all night hoping to see daylight.  How can anyone sleep on their 6th birthday? Entering the kitchen, I hear Daddy’s beautiful voice singing Happy Birthday to me. I’m so lucky to have a father who loves me so much.  I know that not all kids are as lucky as I am.

Chocolate chip pancakes with mounds of whip cream are something I’ve always dreamt about, but I’m ok with my little bowl of Cheerios now while hoping for a treat later in the day. My friend, Valerie told me that some kids get cakes, balloons or even presents on their birthday. I didn’t believe her until I heard other kindergarteners at my new school bragging about what they …
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Stretching Our Kindness

Listen                      Learn                         Love

 

Listen — let’s challenge ourselves to listen to someone with ideas different than ours.

Learn — we might think terms like white prejudice don’t apply to us.

Love — everyone!

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Learning About Happiness

Interesting new insights about happiness are fun and free to explore in an online course from Yale —  https://www.coursera.org/learn/the-science-of-well-being. Includes a series of challenges designed to increase your own happiness. More than two million people are already enrolled in this course which is available whenever you are.

Upon completion, participants are encouraged to choose one area to focus on. I chose savoring.  It’s all about luxuriating in the moments, such as tasting a perfectly grilled burger, noticing fragrant lilacs, or remembering a walk on a sandy beach. After sharing my intent to savor with my family, I was pleasantly surprised when my brother mentioned how he was savoring his first golf game of the season. Then my daughter said she savored the buttery popcorn while watching an old movie. Simple reminders that we are happy.

There’s also a Facebook discussion group for those who want to see how others have …
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