KIND AND NICE...

 “I hope you will have a wonderful year,

that you'll dream dangerously and outrageously,

that you'll make something that didn't exist before you made it,

that you will be loved and that you will be liked,

and that you will have people to love and to like in return.

And, most importantly

(because I think there should be more kindness

and more wisdom in the world right now),

that you will, when you need to be,

be wise, and that you will always be kind.”  
Neil Gaiman

 

Thanksgiving is gone...gone with the leftovers...swallowed up by Black Friday and round-the-clock shopping in malls, local shops and online.   Time to 'wheel-and-deal' for many...not for me 'cause I really don't do well in crowds. 

Big surprise is that things came to a skidding halt...and remained there for several days.  Schools and many businesses were closed; people were stranded on highways and homes were without power.  Made for adjustments; a slowing down that was probably needed and welcomed by most.

To me, Christmas is always a glorious time.  I especially loved the quietness of these past few days, no traffic, little noise and beautiful music in the background.  Special times!

It's often said that we should have the spirit of Christmas all year, not just this time of year.  I agree...it really would be wonderful.  Kindness, niceness seems to abound. 

  

Being iced in for days can be fun; it can also be extremely heartwarming...like? 

 

Fast forward to post-ice this afternoon:  M went out the front door and eureka!  Once again Grant and Dina had deposited soup on the porch...for the umpteenth time.  Kind and nice!

 

A little later, Michael was hacking ice off our front/back porches and sidewalk when here came a young neighbor boy..."Can I help?  I've already cleared our walks with a hammer."   

(A few days before the snow/ice thing this same boy stopped by, wanting to help us do anything around the yard ~ rake leaves, whatever...he needed to make extra money...or maybe just some money!  We didn't have anything for him at the time.)   Today this kid didn't even have gloves on his red hands and looked as if he was freezing in his Texas Univ. hooded sweatshirt...M loaned him gloves, etc. and the two of them are working side by side.  Kind and nice!

 

Friends text to see if they can shop for us, bring us things?  Every day? More...kind and nice!

 

Food?  Soup, stew, ribs, barbecue, homemade cookies by Carter, ribs...a cake baked by a bachelor neighbor!  Delicious, too...wow, impressive people doing impressive things...kind and nice!

 

"Constant kindness can accomplish much.

As the sun makes ice melt, kindness causes

misunderstanding, mistrust and hostility

to evaporate." 

Albert Schweitzer

 

Some say nice guys always finish last...some make sarcastic remarks about being nice.  On the other hand I've read that nice guys finish first...

before the game even starts. 

 

Personally I'm working on being kind & nice, kinder and nicer...and it's working, it's honestly working...inwardly as well as outwardly. 

 

C. S. Eliot wrote, “Being nice doesn’t make you stupid. It makes you feel good because you know you are gracious enough to forgive and smart enough to realize how distasteful some people can be.”  And no way do I want to be one of those distasteful people...no way!

 

I want to be gracious, to make some happiness for someone,

to be kind and loved and have people to love and to like in return.

 

I want to be what God wants and knows I can be...

that's kind and nice!

 

From my heart...to yours,

Vasca