4 Letter Word

There are so many 4 letter words out there. One that is the very troublesome is HATE. 

"I hate this." "I hate that." "I hate (animal name, sports team, type of food)." "I hate you." "I hate."

Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines hate as (a) intense hostility and aversion usually deriving from fear, anger, or sense of injury; (b) extreme dislike or antipathy.

What a more wonderful world this would be with less of the word hate. Instead of saying hate we should say dislike. Often when someone hates something, they do not understand it. The best way to conquer hate is to learn more about what you dislike. 

Spotlight Sunday

I am issuing a challenge:

Every Sunday from now (October 19) through the end of November, I challenge you to spotlight something positive happening in your community on some form of social media (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, etc.). Hence, Spotlight Sunday!

I am concerned about all of the negativity that I see on social media. Usually it is picked up from what people see or hear through the media or acquaintances. There is just as much positive as there is negative for every community, but what seems to get selected to share is more often than not negative. Every single community across this world has at least one, if not more, positive things that often is overlooked. If you want to change how others view your community, then change must first happen within yourself. 

We need to start the change. So what is great and positive about your community? During the upcoming week look for something unique, wonderful, positive about your community to share with your friends, then each Sunday post, tweet, pin what you found. It is a fun treasure hunt and maybe you can even convince your friends to join along, together we can change negativity into positivity one post at time. Are you up for the challenge?

25 Days of Kindess- Week 4

Welcome back for the last week of 25 Days of Kindness.  I am running a bit behind today.  This time of the year always seems to go that way anyway.

Highlights from last week:  
~ I sent hubby and one of his friends out for a guys night out.  I think they had fun and hubby got to eat some food that I am allergic to.

~ The kids particpated in the church's March to the Manager on Sunday.  Pumpkin was a shepherd and Princess was an angel.

~The kids had a camp-out in the sunroom last night to celebrate Pumpkin getting five green lights in a row at school.  Yay!  He is seeming to be doing much better since we are offering daily incentives.  I put a sticky note in his daily folder and the teacher's aide reminds him about the fun thing he gets to do if he remembers to be kind, respectful, and listen.  In the last few weeks, we have played Candyland, ate ice cream after supper, had a movie night, looked at Christmas lights, made ornaments, built a gingerbread house, just to name a few. 

~ We said "I love you" a lot!

How did your week go?  Are you ready for some more ideas?

25 Days of Kindness, Day 22- Give someone a hug . . . .
        - Hugs are the most basic act of kindness 
        - Hugs can say "I love you."  They can say "I care about you."  They can say "You are important."
        - Give someone a hug today

25 Days of Kindness, Day 23- Be kind to the Earth. . . .
        - With the hustle and bustle, don't forget to recycle
        - Where we live, we can recycle our wrapping paper and tissue paper
        - Most larger stores will recycle your shopping bags for you, ask the clerk if your store participates
        - The easiest way to recycle is to re-use and re-purpose, turn an empty jar into a storage container

25 Days of Kindness, Day 24- Be kind to others. . . . 
        - Christmas Eve can be really stressful, remember to be kind to those around you
        - Be a kind on the roadways
        - Be kind in the stores
        - Be kind to your family  
        - Here is a page from Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood to help:
                       "If you are feeling mad and you want to roar!
                        Just take a deep breath and count to four!
                         One . . . . Two . . . . Three . . . . Four"

25 Days of Kindness, Day 25- Let someone go first. . . .
         - The spirit of Christmas is based on giving, so let someone go first
         - Let someone open a present first
         - Let someone fill their plate first
         - What would be another way to let someone go first?  

Congratulations for participating in 25 Days of Kindness . . . . 

25 Days of Kindess- Week 3

Welcome back for week three of 25 Days of Kindness. 

Sorry for the delay.  I just did not have the heart to post about 25 days of kindness yesterday, instead I chose to post about how life is fragile.  So I hope that everyone had a chance to make up their own kindness for the day like hug a child and tell them that you love them.

Highlights from last week:  
~ The smiling idea was pretty funny.  We did get quite a few smiles back and quite a few puzzling looks.  Even if it did not brighten the day of others, it always brightens the day of the person smiling. ;-)

~ Pumpkin and Princess helped me to make chocolate chip banana bread on Monday evening. We made paper ornaments on Tuesday evening and applesauce ornaments on Thursday evening.  Then we decorated a gingerbread house kit yesterday.  It is sort of fun looking with no roof (since both roof slabs were broken into three pieces each), but it is effective none the less.

 

~ We got our photographic Christmas cards printed earlier in the week and most of them made their way into the mail yesterday.

How did your week go?  Are you ready for some more ideas?

25 Days of Kindness, Day 15- Tell someone I love you . . . .
        - We often forget to say "I love you!"  Saying "I love you!" makes all the difference in the world.
        - Tell your family, a friend, or a child "I love you for who you are."

25 Days of Kindness, Day 16- Shop with kindness. . . .
        - Be polite when you shop
        - Be nice and say a compliment to your cashier
        - Help someone put their shopping cart away
        - Help someone reach an item that might be out of their reach

25 Days of Kindness, Day 17- Take turns . . . . 
        - At a four way stop, wave someone through first
        - If you reach the check out line at the same time someone else does, let them go first
        - Let a child turn the lights of the Christmas tree on

25 Days of Kindness, Day 18- Adopt a family for the day. . . .
         - Take a basket of goodies to a family in need
         -  Invite a family with children over and make goodies that everyone can take home
         -  What can you come up with?

25 Days of Kindness, Day 19- Be kind to your 
     significant other (aka spouse) . . . . 
        - Make your significant other's favorite dinner
        - Let you significant other have a girls or guys night out with some friends
        - Don't forget to tell your significant other "I love you!"

25 Days of Kindness, Day 20- Have a family adventure day . . . .
         - Visit a local museum or nature center
         - If there is snow outside, build a snowman or make snow angels
         - Invite some friends along on the adventure
         - Have a day long scavenger hunt with clues to the next activity

25 Days of Kindness, Day 21- Help a neighbor  . . . .
         - Help an elderly neighbor take their garbage to the curb
         - Keep an eye on the neighbor's house if they are away for a while
         - Take your neighbor some holiday treats.
 
Good luck with your 25 Days of Kindness Project . . . . 

25 Days of Kindness- Week 2

Welcome back for week two of 25 Days of Kindness!

How did the first week go?  I know it was hard for us to do one big thing a day.  It seemed more like a combination of several ideas each day.  We may not of accomplished everything on the list.  But we did practice kindness in one form or another each day, which is really the point.

Highlights from last week:  

~ Pumpkin and Princess attended a Christmas Workshop at a local church last Saturday and made seven presents for Christmas.  They had a lot of fun.  I on the other hand have continued working on crocheting a scarf for the teaching assistant in Pumpkin's class at school.

~ Pumpkin and I made puppy chow.  I remember mom would make it every Christmas season as we were growing up.  I think she would be happy to know that I am continuing that tradition with my children.  Pumpkin wasn't quite sure about it at first and decided that I ruined the Chex, but he warmed up after awhile.  Both kids enjoyed munching on the wonderful snack.

We had a lot of other adventures, but part of being kind is to not be boastful either. ;-)

How did your week go?  Are you ready for some more ideas?

25 Days of Kindness, Day 8- Don't forget to smile . . . .
        - A smile is oh so powerful and brightens the day of others
        - Smile at your family
        - Smile at a store clerk
        - Smile at a stranger

25 Days of Kindness, Day 9- Visit a local family owned business . . . .
        - With the hustle and bustle of the holiday season, don't forget about the small businesses
        - Visit a family owned bakery or confectionery shop
        - Visit a hole in the wall boutique or special shop

25 Days of Kindness, Day 10- Mail a card . . . . 
        - Mail a hand written letter to a friend or relative
        - Mail a thank you or thinking of you card to someone that may live alone this holiday season
        - Mail a note to a child to brighten their day

25 Days of Kindness, Day 11- Surprise a friend. . . .
         - Make a dessert and drop it off at a friends house
         - Make a donation in a friends name
         - Kidnap a friend for a few hours to go window shopping or have a soda

25 Days of Kindness, Day 12- Have a family dinner night . . . . 
        - Sit down with the family around the table and have dinner
        - Play some games or have a sing-a-long
        - Take time to listen to your family
        - Decorate a family gingerbread house 

25 Days of Kindness, Day 13- Feed the wildlife . . . .
         - Toss some birds seed or stale cereal or bread out for the birds
         - Make a pinecone bird feeder to hang for your feathered friends
         - String a garland of popcorn and decorate a bush or tree for the animals
         - Make a donation to a local animal shelter

25 Days of Kindness, Day 14- Go out . . . .
         - Take your family or an elderly neighbor out to look at the holiday lights or a living nativity scene
         - Treat a friend or a child to a holiday movie
         - Take a child to your local library for a holiday story time or 
                  create your own holiday story time if one is not scheduled

Good luck with your 25 Days of Kindness Project . . . . 

25 Days of Kindness- Week 1

 

Happy December!

So as I was getting ready for bed last night and inspiration hit me.  Maybe I was just overly tired, maybe the big guy upstairs was trying to tell me something, or maybe I am just plain crazy.

This time of the year there is a big hipe about the 25 Days of Christmas.  I thought it would be nice to have 25 Days of Kindness to get everyone into the real Christmas spirit.  So my challenge to you, if you chose to accept, would be to do one act of kindness each day for the next 25 days.  I will give a weeks worth of suggestions and they can be done in any order.  Then next Saturday, I'll post another weeks worth of suggestions and so on.  It should fun and it will be a bit generic so it should work with everyone.  

So what do you say?  Will you try?

25 Days of Kindness, Day 1- Make a homemade gift or card . . . .
        - Find some cardstock, ribbon, crayons, markers, glitter, glue and make a homemade card
                      for a child or adult
        - Make applesauce ornaments to give to friends and family.
        - Decorate a wooden box with paint and include a special treasure inside like an ornament
        - Sewing, crochet, knit, paste/glue, draw/create . . . the options are endless
 
25 Days of Kindness, Day 2- Help your elders . . . .
        - If someone does not have a car, volunteer to take them shopping for a few hours
        - If someone uses a walker or wheelchair, volunteer to help decorate for the holiday season
        - If someone has arthritis, volunteer to help wrap presents

25 Days of Kindness, Day 3- Give words of encouragement . . . . 
        - Tell someone thank you
        - Tell someone they did a good job
        - Use your words to uplift someone in need of encouragement

25 Days of Kindness, Day 4- Reach out to a friend. . . .
         - Call, write, or email a friend that you have not talk to in a while
         - Have a lunch date with a friend to catch up and de-stress
         - Volunteer to watch a friend's children so they can go Christmas shopping
         - Play Secret Santa and drop a small pick-me-up gift on a friends door step, then run

25 Days of Kindness, Day 5- Make a donation . . . . 
       - Donate your time for a good cause
       - Drop some change into a Salvation Army bucket
       - Find an Angel Tree and donate a gift to a child in need
       - Donate canned goods to a local shelter or food bank  

25 Days of Kindness, Day 6- Love your family . . . .
        - Have a family movie night with your favorite foods
        - Take the family out to see the holiday lights after dark
        - Have a family baking night and make holiday goodies
        - Play a game with the whole family

25 Days of Kindness, Day 7- Do some cooking . . . .
        - Take cookies to a neighbor or shut-in
        - Leave your mailman or mail-lady a candy cane
        - Drop goodies off to an place you like (for the staff)- like the doctor's office, 
                vet clinic, small family owned business, local bank, school office

Good luck with your 25 Days of Kindness Project . . . .