Category Archives: kindness
Niceties
I think of myself as a very nice person. But a few days ago, I got a challenge to my niceness. Something very nice happened to someone I dislike. And I found myself irritated. Bitter even. Certainly not nice. Of course nice things happen to people who don’t deserve it. And who is a better …
Happily Taxed
No one likes to pay taxes. Holy cow, my husband and I say a lot worse that “holy cow” every Spring. And now of course, it’s nearly summer and that can mean only one thing – semi-annual property tax time. Our local government likes to make me cry not once, but twice, a year. But …
The Peanuts Perspective
When I was a teenager, full of morose and moronic but perfectly normal teenage angst, there was one thing I completely loved Peanuts. Not the in-the-ground Jimmy Carter kind. (Although I did love them and still do.) The comic strip. I had books and books of Peanuts strips, and often clipped the big Sunday color …
Notice The Moments
I am one of those fortunate people who is not moving through life feeling unloved. But I have had times when I felt unnoticed. I think it can be very difficult to be invisible, and yet so many of us are. Older people, average people, single people – we who don’t make waves. And yet …
Hang Up
With this blogging year being all about Kindness, I am reading back on my posts and seeing that perhaps I am just a little too-good-to-be-true. I sound maybe like if Mother Teresa and Gandhi had a child. Only better. With that, I thought I would post a blog I wrote about six years ago. Where …
Wearing It
Last night, just as we were falling asleep, my husband drowsily remembered a conversation he had earlier in the day. “Oh,” he murmured, “I talked to that guy from the committee.” “Which guy?” I asked. “You know… That guy… He wears a limp.” My husband was only semi-conscious and that probably explains his weird phrasing. …
The Things She Carried
On Sunday, we went to dinner at our favorite restaurant. This used to be our favorite dive – literally a cellar with a raucous bar and tables that wobbled and peanut shells on the floor. But the owner built a new nicer facility, and so now the food is stll good and there are still …
The 40% Rule
When I was in college, I had a 40% rule. I was in college for a very long time. I liked school. I changed my major a few times both because I was interested in everything and also to make it last longer. I took extra courses. When my parents finally told me they had …
Sending The Right Message
Yesterday, when I was driving home from the supermarket, ahead of me was one of those big, fancy pickup trucks. As the light turned red, I came up close on his tail, and I saw that he had a decal on the back window of his cab. This was no normal decal – no Praise …
Being Kind – To That Special Someone
You! I mean You! In my obsession with Kindness this year, I have written about the many kindnesses we should extend to others, and the many kindnesses that others extend to us. But Kindness starts in the mirror. Why do you have to be so hard on yourself? Can’t you see how wonderful you are? …
notquiteold 