Be Kind

I had the most adorable conversation with my 6 year old niece yesterday about friendship.  She was telling me about a birthday party she was going to that afternoon.  I asked her if it was a good friend of hers and she said, "erm, no."  When I asked why, she told me that this girl was rude and pushy- she liked everything her way.  Then I asked why she was still going to the birthday party she said, "well, I'm hoping if I'm nice to her she'll learn how to be nice back."
Touche, dear niece.  These kids have it figured out. Check out this video below:

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full of joy

This morning I stopped by my sister's house on the way to work.  I had to drop something off real quick.  But as soon as I stepped foot in her house, the same thing happened which always happens when I stop by:  I get pulled in.  Big sister has three adorable little kids, so her house is full of activity.

This morning, the youngest baby M (she's 13 months) was around.  As soon as she saw me she smiled and reached for me shyly.  She was playing with my phone and walking around the room.  When she came back around the corner toward us she was already smiling, ear to ear.  Why she was already smiling, I have no idea.  Maybe she was getting ready because she knew we'd be waiting for her.  The best part was her smile was so big, so joyous, so sincere and loving, every single muscle in her face was working to create a dazzling smile with huge dimples jumping out at me. It couldn't have gotten any bigger.

Boy did I feel special.  One amazing smile, just for me.  (note: this smile is just her regular, hello! smile)

Ingenuity

Where there is a little will, there is a big big way, to affect the world.  I'm continuously amazed by how one person, or one idea can shift the contours of the world.

Take a look at this video, which shows how one ingenious idea is changing thousands of people's lives in a remote village.

Just Do It

"Now and then it's good to pause in our pursuit of happiness and just be happy." 
— Guillaume Appollnaire


When I'm going through the daily grind, it's all I can do to remember everything I should be doing every day.  That's probably the reason I keep lists, and lists of lists.  I do it for my personal life, for work stuff, for house cleaning, errands-everything.  


Keeping my life in order, keeps me calm.  I think you can read between the lines- I like to be in control.  When I'm in control, I'm fairly content.  The only problem, is when I'm working hard to remember all the stuff I have to do, and actually do all the things that I remember to do, I lose sight of the prize.  The big prize is being just happy in the moment.  

Flattery will get you....

I think it's safe to say that flattery will truly get you everywhere, or at least pretty far.  Seriously.  It doesn't matter what the exact point of adulation may be- it always feels pretty great.  Especially if it's unexpected.

This morning I was getting my teeth cleaned and my dentist (who's seen me for about twenty years) told me that I had excellent teeth.  If fact, they were so superb they should be models for other dentists.   Would I rather that he say I was beautiful?  Sure.

But having great teeth ain't bad either.  I still left with a bit of an extra hop to my step for the rest of the day.  

Miss me?

It's been almost a week since I last posted- sorry!  I know, I know.  I've missed you.

Anyway, I was at dinner tonight with some friends.  The conversation steered toward death.  Someone knew someone who knew someone who's sister passed away at 25.  I immediately thought, "wow, what would it be like to pass away so young?"  And then I thought, "what would people say at my funeral?"

Selfishly, I hope they say nice things.  But at the end of the day it doesn't matter.  I'll be long gone and the folks that I leave behind are the ones that will suffer.  Who can really waste their time wondering what will happen in the future, when there is so much to be done right now?

Good Deeds

You probably already saw this in the news last month, but I couldn't help but mention the incident that happened in Utah.  A  college student was trapped under a burning car after his motorcycle crashed into it.

The best part was what happened right after.  A small group of people, who seconds before were disparate strangers  banded together to lift a car up.  Then helped save the the motorcycle driver's life that day.  They didn't have to get involved.  But they did. Say yes to helping out in big ways and small.

Winning

You've got to get to the stage in life where going for it is more important than winning or losing. - Arthur Ashe

If you see something...say something

If you are one of the two or three people that read my blog every day you know that I just moved into my new office on the second floor of a building in an emerging neighborhood.  What does that mean?  That means that I am in love with my new space and get easily distracted by the people that are walking by down below, to and from the park.  It also means that I'm in the middle of the inner city.
(side note, that's Duke over there, snuggling with me awhile back as I worked)
This evening I was chatting with my favorite colleagues.  Work Bestie (an ardent dog lover) heard a dog barking incessantly.   The more I listened, it sounded like the dog was panicked.  We both hustled over to the windows and couldn't believe our eyes.  A woman was trying to walk a pit bull toward the park on the street below.  It was resisting her and she was whipping the dog on it's head with her leash.   Repeatedly.  I was in shock, but I remember both of us saying, "we gotta do something!  Is someone going to stop her? She does NOT know how to train a dog-  I hope that dog bites her."

Then I started hollering, "open the window, open the windowwwww!"  Thankfully, we were with a burly man who could lift up the heavy thing.  As soon as it opened work bestie hollered "HEY YOU...STOP HURTING THAT DOG!"  Wouldn't you know it, the lady actually barked back "I'm trying to get the dog under control.  I have four other dogs.  I know what I'm doing.  Mind your own business!"  I finished by hollering "go learn how to properly train your dog!"  She grumbled off but we didn't see her hitting the poor dog anymore.

I have no idea what will happen to that dog, but what I know for sure is that every single time she touches that dog, she is undoubtedly going to look over her shoulder.  She's going to second guess herself.  That's because we said something.  Next time, I'm going to follow her home on the DL and call the Humane Society.  

A whale of a tale

Disclaimer:  I saw this from a stupid forward, but I enjoyed reading it:


A while back, at the entrance of a gym, there was a picture of a very thin and beautiful woman. The caption was "This summer, do you want to be a mermaid or a whale?"

The story goes, a woman (of clothing size unknown) answered the following way:

"Dear people, whales are always surrounded by friends (dolphins, seals, curious humans), they are sexually active and raise their children with great tenderness.
They entertain like crazy with dolphins and eat lots of prawns. They swim all day and travel to fantastic places like Patagonia, the Barents Sea or the coral reefs of Polynesia.
They sing incredibly well and sometimes even are on cds. They are impressive and dearly loved animals, which everyone defend and admires.

Mermaids do not exist.

But if they existed, they would line up to see a psychologist because of a problem of split personality: woman or fish?
They would have no sex life and could not bear children.
Yes, they would be lovely, but lonely and sad.
And, who wants a girl that smells like fish by his side?

Without a doubt, I'd rather be a whale.

At a time when the media tells us that only thin is beautiful, I prefer to eat ice cream with my kids, to have dinner with my husband, to eat and drink and have fun with my friends.

We women, we gain weight because we accumulate so much wisdom and knowledge that there isn't enough space in our heads, and it spreads all over our bodies.
We are not fat, we are greatly cultivated.
Every time I see my curves in the mirror, I tell myself: "How amazing am I ?! "

Steve Jobs knew how to live

'Remembering That You Are Going To Die Is The Best Way I Know To Avoid The Trap Of Thinking You Have Something To Lose' -Steve Jobs

I've written about dying before. I don't mean to be fatalistic when I think it's crucial to remember that life is short.   I think it frames our perspective better.  

Steve Jobs passed away today.  He was brilliant.  More importantly, he was more than the man behind the technology we are addicted to today: computers, ipods, iphones, ipads,etc.  He was wise.  I remember seeing this video of a commencement speech he gave a while back.  He spoke about trusting your gut or karma in order to learn to follow your heart toward the future.  It's important, he said, to remember, "you can't connect the dots looking forward- you can only connect the dots looking backwards."

According to Jobs, one of the keys to living well, is to "do what you believe is great work- love what you do.  keep looking and don't settle.  It gets better and better as the years go on."  In conclusion, he said, "don't waste your life living someone else's dreams."  Here, here!

Do your part

I don't understand why people don't recycle.  It' s easy and it makes sense.

When I went to Europe in 2006 one of the first things I noticed was how environmentally sensitive everyone was over there.  Recycle bins were everywhere.  There were motion sensors on the common area lights so they would turn off when not in use (to save energy and costs). Check out this blurb about the "greenest building on earth" These things simply make sense.

Taking care of the world we live in shouldn't be construed as some political issue.  This planet is our home and its our job to take care of it, and that includes not littering, keeping in mind that there is only so much clean water, and far too much waste being produced.

In the next year, I hope to start composting.  My mom will this think that it's crazy.  But I think it will be super cool.  So will Duke- he will probably try to roll around in the compost.