No, it doesn't come in a pill you can take, and it doesn't require a specialized blender, a single leaf of kale or any fancy new outfit. The latest prescription for having good health is something almost all of us already have received----and used many times-----kindness. Kindness such a simple little word, with so much power and rewards......Researchers have found that good deeds as small as holding the door for a stranger or even to smile at someone lonely ..... can bring us great benefits like lowered rates of depression, increase our self esteem and strengthen our immune system. Remember what grandmother said..."Do unto others....." Drop some money in a parking meter about to expire, buy the guy behind you coffee or pay for someone else's lunch.......These small deeds can even cause a ripple effect......which is passing on good feelings to others. Make weaving kindness into every day life a habit and see how much better your days are......and your health. The Dalai Lama said, "My religion is kindness."
This is a picture of my granddaughter Andrea who just went to India on a YMAD two week work project and she and the other young people found out the true meaning of kindness and came back lovin' life.
Tomorrow off to Vernal for the weekend and then a week in the Bahamas!!! So guess my blogging will just have to wait....till I get home.
It would be terrible to grow old without having anything to look forward to........on some things aren't as fun as others. This following gives you something to think about!
Wow.....I am at Karrie's helping her get ready for a party the next day with no big plans .....other than going to Vernal for a few days to watch my grandson graduate....when she gets a call from her twin sister saying....."I found a cheap vacation......a one weeks stay all inclusive including airfare....to the Bahamas...... and I am going without my family .....can you go?" You have to know Sherrie.....she has been feeling neglected...... Darren and the 3 boys were off to the house boat in Lake Powell with the scouts for that week........ and she took care of the situation.. Karrie called to see if her husband could handle the two kids and dogs.......and I invited myself and we leave the day after I get home from Vernal.......Sooooo I have been hustling all day laying out clothes for two trips, laundry, making out lists and trying to remember how I did it in the "olden days" when I could be ready for a trip in a day!... Every time I get ready to hang up my "DUNNROVIN'" sign I get out my suitcase and off I go. I guess the kids will just have to bury it with me????? I can't help if I have Gypsy blood...... Checked my passport and it is still good.....And this little picture made me think.........how can I lose 20 pounds in a week???.. Hope I can still get in my last years bathing suit......?.
I have been thinking about what I will leave to my kids and grandkids......and maybe someday.....some great-grandkids. I love to write and have journaled and blogged about my thoughts and life for many years.....I love to write and hope in my writings I have conveyed to my family how much I love them and what they mean to me......I am not a good writer and write for my own pleasure but I hope it shows. Writing always makes me feel immortal----as if I am creating an extension of my life that nothing can destroy......It is exhilarating. Maybe someday down the road.......Someone will read some of my writings and say.....yes I remember Grammie saying that or doing that ....some days my back aches, my eyes blur and my poor arthritic fingers hit the wrong keys, but I am not going to quit writing......it is my salvation. I doubt if the kids will remember my face as I age.....my wrinkled hands with age spots and funny growing things that just pop up and my thinning hair I keep dyed!!! They will just remember I was fun, and happy and always up for a new experience and was there to support them along the way. And I can never tell them too often how much I love them....Te Amo
If you follow my blogs you will know I am big into the Philosophy of Wabi-Sabi! Wabi-sabi-----the Japanese philosophy of accepting that...... since perfection does not exist, we shouldn't seek it, but instead find pleasure in things as they are----is proven to ease anxiety and boost joy! Always look for the principles in daily life. For example, focus on Nature...... instead of creating a super complicated spring bouquet, wabi-sabi encourages you make a simple arrangement with just a few flowers as you would find them in the field........as nature created them.
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What a wonderful Mother's Day.....Saturday night dinner at Chilies with the Cooks and Christensons........flowers and a pretty necklace. Today I went to breakfast with the Pannier family to Little America, they gave me pretty blouse and dinner at five with the Cooks today so we could Skype Richard in Mexico and they gave me a pretty necklace......Tiff and Scott gave me a big bouquet of flowers....(oldest granddaughter).Talked to my sister who was really sick and no kids around....I hope she has a better Mother's Day next year! These girls remind me I created 3 beautiful miracles!!!!!!
My kids have no idea what it is like to have to go outdoors every time you had to go too the bathroom???? This picture brought back many memories of my days on the ranch.....rain or shine, hot or cold....when you had to go......you ran outside to the 'Out House'. Ours was a two holer.....so my little sisters and I could go at the same time......my grandparents was also a two holer. Toilet paper, as my kids know it, was expensive so much of the time you took the old Montgomery Wards or Sears Roebuck catalogues.....using up the soft pages first.....but also gave you something to do while you were out there. They would dig a deep hole and when it filled up.......they dig another hole and move the toilet itself to the hole and cover up the old hole.......but it was better than hiding behind a bush I guess. Interesting....we never had any plumbing problems in those days! This is where Wabi-Sabi comes in hand.....you can always find something good in every situation......
It sometimes takes a while to learn that whatever path you choose will have consequences.......The higher the path, the greater the pain; but the more satisfying the reward. You alone can decide what will be written on your tombstone. No one can walk your path.......Only you can create it one step at a time....More or less we are like the caterpillar who has chosen to become what they were always meant to be......a beautiful butterfly in flight.....BUT there are many who chose to stay a caterpillar and never reach up..........When I look at a picture of these "Saddle Shoes"........what do I think of? Well, they helped me grow up. Everyone wore them, but mostly mine were Brown and White ones. We got one new pair of shoes every six months. You changed out of the new ones to the old ones when you got home from school.......unless you had outgrown them, then they were passed down to the little sister.......always happy I was the oldest of four girls......and this saved the new ones longer for school and church. We had a bottle of white shoe polish we cleaned them up with regularly......Oh yes, these shoes were made for walking. Mother would put our foot on a piece of paper and draw around it and mail it to one of the catalogues and we counted the days till they arrived.....just like Christmas.
"It may be painful for us to see our children modifying or even rejecting ideas that were important to us and adopting others that could never be comfortable for us......But out of that difference may come the reinforcement of two other important values.......One is tolerance, and the other is awareness that people who disagree over the things they hold dear really can live together in love and respect....."
Thank you GOD for friends.....Today a dear friend dropped by for coffee and we had a very good talk.......I honestly don't know how she gets through the day with all the confusion of her life.......and I am more than happy to listen .......which is about all I can do!
Enjoyed the little country of BELGIUM......... with Bev and Wood......Don and I had picked up a new Mercedes and we were driving through Europe......The boys were interested in the part where the WORLD WAR had taken place........Belgium is a very diverse country......there are many nationalities that live here.....Italy, France ,and Spain are about 65% of the population with many Moroccans and Turks also. The architecture is very interesting......a combination of many countries......not a terribly rich country but has a lot of good history. Didn't get to spend too much time there......but added another country to my list!
I don't care how hard you try you, being the MOM, cannot make everyone happy.......at the time it is very frustrating and discouraging.......and so tempting to give up at times.....but don't! 'This too will pass'.....Is the best way to look at it. So one day you realize you will never please everyone so you decide to make yourself happy........As we approach Mother's Day and I look back over my 'mommy' years......more than once I had someone mad at me for whatever reason......but as the years passed and the 3 girls have become 'mommies' they are experiencing some of these same feelings. I can only tell them to be the soft place their have to fall and always be there for them and the kids will surprise them and grow up to be the wonderful people they were meant to be......thanks to their MOTHERS!
I have learned in my many years "Not to Cry because it is over......smile because it happened." For instance......my constant traveling around the world is now over.....I can't be sad......I just have to be happy I was fortunate enough to have it happen!
I wonder if they have Chinese McDonalds? It would have had snake instead of hamburger probably.......Maybe I should leave Oriental Food to others and stick to Oriental Wisdom.
