September is National Courtesy Month and it couldn’t have come at a better time. Part of the reason I began My Cup of Cocoa was in reaction to the negativity, hostility, and meanness I was seeing in our world. This blog is my attempt to counterbalance all of the negative things with positive, happy, and uplifting ones. We don’t have to look very far these days to find someone behaving discourteously. It’s on the news, the internet, on the roads we drive, in the businesses we frequent. One of the best ways to respond to discourtesy is with kindness and Read More
Category: relationships
Let’s Celebrate Friendship Day
Did you know that the General Assembly of the United Nations declared July 30 to be International Friendship Day? I don’t really need a special day to celebrate my friends. I’ve got some great friends, and I am thankful every day for them. But it is nice to know there is a special day set aside just to celebrate friendship. My life is much richer because of the friendships I have. In honor of Friendship Day, I thought share a little about what makes my friends so great. If you’ve read my blog before, you’ll know I also love great Read More
14 Last Minute Ideas for Mother’s Day Gifts
Mother’s Day is only a few days away. If your life is like mine, then you’re probably scrambling to find a gift for mom. May is the time of year when everything gets crazy in my house. This year is even crazier than most. Between now and the end of the month my family’s activity list includes: several end of the school year projects, assemblies, and trips, prom, a high school graduation, out of town visitors, two birthdays, a camping trip, and Mother’s Day, of course. Add to my madness two dogs that seem to enjoy eating things they shouldn’t Read More
Quality Self-Care Begins with Self Compassion
Self-care is all the rage these days. It pops up on my Pinterest feed, in blogs I read, and even on news sites. Everyone, it seems, is jumping on the self-care advice bandwagon. In fact, I just published a post on journaling and self-care. You can read it here. So I guess I’ve jumped on the self-care bandwagon too. Perhaps I should have published this post first. Because practicing self-care doesn’t get very far unless you start with self compassion. Have you noticed that we are often our own worst critic? Our inner voice tells us things we Read More