Remember the old sing-a-long “Make new friends, but keep the old. One is silver, and the other, gold”? This time of year makes me think of old friends and new friends and this old song has been on my mind. I love my friends. My life would not be half as rich without them. An old friend of mine was visiting over the Thanksgiving holiday. She and her family live on the opposite side of the country. They spent a week here in sunny California and had Thanksgiving dinner with us. I hadn’t seen her in more than a year Read More
Tag: kindness
Giving Without Expectations, Receiving Without Guilt
The gift giving season will soon be upon us. It can be filled with happiness and joy and/or fraught with disappointment and unfulfilled expectations. We have often heard that it is better to give than to receive. I don’t believe that is always the case. Being giver or receiver can bring us hurt feeling and warm feelings. It is up to us to learn how to be a happy and gracious giver as well as a willing and thankful receiver. Giving Without Expectations Don’t we sometimes give a gift with an expectation attached? It happens all the time. Read More
Collecting Kindness is Good for Us All
So I’ve been collecting quotes about kindness and compassion. (There are a lot of them! Stay tuned for a great list in a future post.) I’ve gone from collecting quotes to reading more in depth advice on how to add compassion and happiness to life. I am learning that kindness is something that we need to practice in order to be really good at it. Practicing kindness requires us to be kind to everyone we meet, even if we’re really not feeling it. It doesn’t cost anything to be kind. Zig Ziglar said “When you see someone without a smile, Read More