A little something good.
28 Feb 2012 Leave a Comment
in Everythings Relative, Good Karma, Good Times, Listen to the Words Tags: AIDS, AIDS Walk, charity, Community, family, Good Karma, Health, HIV, Inspiration, life
Hello to all my most wonderful and loved peeps:
First…to all who have already done their something good…THANK YOU so, so much! Feel free to pass this e-mail on to anyone who might be interested in a little good karma.
This year I am (yet again) participating in the AIDS Walk as a proud member of The Ohana Strollers walk team. Ohana means “family” in Hawiian. My team captain, John Swafford, came up with the name…as we, people who have been touched by AIDS and HIV, all are one big family. We may not all agree all of the time, and we certainly are all different people with different kinds of lives and goals, but when one of us needs someone we know who will be there for us.
WAIT! Before you roll your eyes and move on to TMZ, this will be my only posting regarding the walk. Promise. No hounding this year. 
You all know my story by now and, while I still walk for that reason so close to my heart, this year I am walking to honor all those who are living with, fighting to survive and those who are doing good and inspiring things to educate and encourage awareness of HIV and AIDS. These people are the ones who are going the extra mile by sharing from their hearts.
Over the past few months I have raised over $500.00 through sales of my jewelry, pottery and magnetic bookmarks, along with some geneorus donations from some super wonderful people. Now I need you, my family and friends, to help. I’m hoping that you all will join me in being part of something incredibly positive.
If you would like to join our walk team, please click the link below…click “Join A Team” and then select The Ohana Strollers in the drop-down menu to sign up. It is an AWESOME and inspiring event, and a whole hell of a lot of fun
http://aidswalkorlando.org/index.php
If yo want to be with us in spirit…I would be honored if you could donate whatever you can to my AIDS Walk fund:
Click here to donate———> https://secure.kgihost.net/aidswalkorlando.org/donate.php?type=1&user_id=1913 . Be certain to click the “make donation now” button at the bottom of the page.
If you do not feel comfortable donating to me directly, please feel free to donate to my team:
Simply click the link below, enter the amount you would like to donate, choose “Donate to a Team” in the first drop-down menu, then choose The Ohana Strollers in the second drop-down menu and click “make donation now” at the bottom of the page:
Click here———–> https://secure.kgihost.net/aidswalkorlando.org/donate.php
If you do not want to donate to me or my team, but still want to donate to a good cause, simply click the link below, fill the amount and click “make donation now”:
https://secure.kgihost.net/aidswalkorlando.org/donate.php
If you prefer not to donate via the online application you can make a check or money order out to Hope & Help Center of Central Florida, Inc. Contact me via email or Facebook or via PM here for my mailing address or, if you would ike to mail directly to Hope & Help, please use the address below, indicating in the notes section n your check that it is intended for The Ohana Strollers AIDS Walk Fund:
Hope & Help Center of Central Florida, Inc. 1935 Woodcrest Drive ·
Winter Park Florida, 32792
Donations are tax deductable. Online donations will receive a thank you email/receipt from Hope & Help for tax purposes.
I honestly believe that if we all do just a little something good, and work together, we can make the world a better place.
This, is my little something good.
Many thanks in advance, and wishing love, peace and acceptance to you all.
Kim Pinson
It was such a simple task…
05 Dec 2011 2 Comments
in Good Times, Happy Holiday-like, Random Junk
…take six items, wrap them and box them for shipping. No sweat, right?
So…here’s how it went; I arrived home from running errands with a full head of steam. Yes, it was probably thanks to the cold meds I’m taking…but still…I had a plan. I needed to wrap the holiday gifts that were to be sent to family up north, handled the holiday card signing and addressing, unload the dishwasher and reload it with the dishes that I so joyfully left in the sink last night because I wanted to play a game on the Xbox more than I wanted to be all domestic-like.
Yes, there was wine involved in that decision.
Anyway…Hubster was heading off to a doctor’s appointment, so it was the perfect time for me to do some present-wrapping. Off he went…and I headed for our supply of holiday wrapping materials and the bag of items that were to be wrapped.
Locate the bag of items (all purchase from local vendors. Yay me!), the tissue paper and gift boxes.
Crap…where did I put the wrapping paper?
Search, search, search.
Found the wrapping paper in the guest room closet!
Align all items to be wrapped in the kitchen table. Roll out wrapping paper.
Crap…where are the scissors?
Located scissors in Rubbermaid box in which I carried all my crafty stuff to the Art Walk sale, in closet in office.
Tissue paper. Where did I put the tissue paper that I JUST bought yesterday?
Search, search, search.
Found the tissue paper in bag on the ottoman under my desk.
O.K….now we’re cooking with gas!
Open gift box packaging. Thankfully have scissors, as this package of gift boxes is wrapped like it is being preserved for some sort of medical procedure.
Open gift boxes and fight with foldy-like corners of boxes to get them to hold their box-like shape.
Spread out tissue paper (made from recycled paper…so I feel extra good) and fold it it fit gift boxes.
Place items in boxes and fold tissue paper ever so neatly. So pretty.
Put lids on boxes. Wait…box lids won’t stay on. Undo neatly folded tissue paper and reposition items and re-fold tissue paper.
Swear just a little bit.
Lids fit now. SCORE!
Cut wrapping paper to fit boxes. Way cool…I can wrap two packages on each sheet!
Wait. Bought different wrapping paper for girl and boy recipients. Hmmm.
Search, search, search.
Find other rolls of wrapping paper in totally different location than first wrapping paper.
Puzzle on why I would have put them in two different places.
Find no clue as to why.
Swear a little bit.
Wrap boy presents first. Nifty red and black paper. Very manly.
Time spent puzzling over if I should cut off extra paper to rol up and slide in wrapping paper tube for later, or just leave the uneven piece on the roll.
Yes…I really thought about this.
Decide to leave it on the roll.
Tape. Where the hell is the tape?
Search, search, search.
Find tape in desk in den. Who the hell put it there?
Oh…wait. Me.
Wrap girl presents.
Roll of wrapping paper rolls off table and onto floor…and across room.
Cat joyfully attacks paper as dog shoots out of room, as…anything falling from anywhere is certainly going to land on him.
Swear a little more as I make odd pssst pssst noises to chase away the cat, and re-roll wrapping paper on annoying cardboard roll.
Ribbon.
I bought special, super-pretty ribbon. Where is it?
Search, search, search.
Locate ribbon on far side of guest room bed. Suspect cat…as bag that ribbon was in has evidence of bunny-punching.
Stomp, stomp, stomp back to kitchen table.
Admire ribbon purchase 
Stack six wrapped gifts in two piles of three, and attempt to encircle them as two expertly bound stacks with fancy ribbon.
Tape will not stick to ribbon.
Much wasting of tape and swearing.
Locate stapler…and staple ribbon to hold the ends together!
Celebrate just a tiny bit, which signals the dog to bring me a squeaky toy…because my celebration dance MUST mean that I desperately need to play with him.
Tell dog it isn’t time to play.
Dog looks sad and pouts.
Play with dog. (Yes…I am a sucker for sad-puppy-face)
Presents wrapped, ribbon installed. Need gift tags.
No clue where the damned gift tags are, and a little too annoyed to look for them.
Find craft paper and paper-cutter to create gift tags.
Cute! Homemade! Recycled paper! Yay!
Punch holes in ribbon and tags to attach them with ribbon to gifts.
Drop ribbon, which rolls across room.
Cue the cat.
Rescue ribbon from cat, and attempt to pretty thin thread ribbon through holes in card and wide fancy ribbon.
Can’t see holes.
Swear about getting old and search for glasses.
Locate a pair of reading glasses (one of three that I can almost never find when I need them) on nightstand in bedroom, and succeed in threading ribbon through holes.
Damn…forgot to fill out tags!
Undo ribbon, fill out tags, re-thread ribbon through holes and affix to packages.
Tah-dah!!!
Need box for shipping.
Found a box that is to small in office….and a box that is too big in guest bedroom closet.
Stomp to garage, move stuff around and find perfect box…then have to put all the stuff I moved back in place.
Need packing materials.
Check closet in guest room, closets in office and finally find packing paper in closet in library.
Why isn’t all our wrapping/packing stuff all in one place???!!!
Idea!
Must stop everything I’m doing to relocate and organize wrapping/gifting/packing supplies in one place.
Go to guest room and office to drag all wrapping essentials out into hallway.
Drag all packing stuff (wrapping paper, gift boxes… which I didn’t know I had because they were hidden in a closet behind my childhood dollhouse, spools of ribbon and tape…shipping boxes that we stuffed in the garage and multiple closets because they were “too good to throw out and we MIGHT need them”… to library and organize in closet in a most Martha Stewart-y fashion.
Seriously. Hanging shelves full of neatly folded tissue paper, and packing paper, ribbon and gift bags and boxes? Wrapping paper all in the nifty Rubbermaid giftwrap container that I bought last year at the after-Xmas sales then put away and forgot about? Miles of curling ribbon and fancy wired ribbon that I scored from the dollar bins over the last year set in rows like toy soldiers?
Martha would be proud.
Shut up! Yes she would!!
Return to kitchen and realize that I forgot the damned packing paper.
Stomp back to library.
Stomp back to kitchen with packing paper in tightly clenched hand.
Fit packing paper and beautifully wrapped presents into shipping box.
Realize that I am sweating.
Go change into something cooler.
Hubster comes home to find me on the back porch with a glass of wine. He sees the wrapped packages on the table, the explosion of wrapping paper, ribbon, boxes and tape spread across the house…. dishes still in the sink and Xmas cards still in the boxes on the counter…and my current sweaty state.
He smiles and shakes his head.
“Want to go out to dinner?”
Is it any wonder that I love this man?
Thought for the day…
30 Nov 2011 Leave a Comment
in Brilliant-like, Good Karma, Listen to the Words Tags: advice, good ideas, honesty, karma
Really…It’s Just That Simple.
10 Nov 2011 5 Comments
in Brilliant-like, Good Karma, IMHO, Late Night Ramblings Tags: advice, behavior modification, family, friends, good ideas, honesty, opinion, relationships
I have this thing for windows and doors. Not a thing, like those somewhat misguided people who are in love with their toaster…or a tree (thank you, Mary Katherine Gallagher, for that disturbing mental image) have a thing…but just that I’m drawn to them visually. Or, maybe it’s symbolically. Hmmm.
Wait…before you click off, in fear that I am about to tumble into waxing rhapsodic freshman prose fraught with overly floral adjectives and adverbs about architecture of life, remember…this is me typing.
*wink*
So, anyway…the whole “when a door closes, a window opens” babble? Not a load of crap. Thing is, the people who tend to mince about repeating this mantra…never close that damned door. They go on, at length, about the cold…or the heat..or the noise…or the bugs that get in. They call in consultants to solve the problem of the open door. They read volume after volume of books by other people who have, in fact, closed doors themselves. They watch Lifetime movies about other people who left the door open, go to seminars, search the internet…and often the world…for instructions on how to shut that door.
FYI: It doesn’t work that way.
And here is where I insert a rant. People! Wake the hell up! Look around you. Be thankful for every single thing you have (material and, obviously, otherwise)…and be O.K. with the very real fact that…hey, this may be it.
I am just about up to here (imagine me gesturing wildly somewhere above my head) with people singing the sad, sad song of the economy and all the STUFF they don’t have. They’ve had to move to a smaller place, drive a cheaper car….*gasp* not take three vacations a year. They have to work longer hours, sometimes for less money.
And YES, before you get all huffy and arm-waving-like, I have every right to commence with this rant…as I HAVE been to that very land of loss…and not when the whole country was feeling the pain. Nooo, I got to do it when the general population was basking in one of the fattest and healthiest economies in history. Now, if you aren’t struggling, you’re the odd man out. And evidently, from what I’m reading lately, the bad guy. Eeeevil. Funny how perception changes, isn’t it? I did poverty when poverty wasn’t cool. Huh.
But…my point is; get right with the way things are this very minute. Get happy with it. Get all down and snuggly like you’re BFFs with it.
Nothing, and I do mean NOTHING, good is going to even out and present itself until you do. And when you do…there is such a sense of relief. True freaking story.
This is probably where that doors and windows part comes in.
Crafty, huh?
So, you’re reading along here to get to the part where I tell you HOW to close the door, right? I’ll be the first person to step up and say that I have no clue how to close your door. I just know how I closed mine.
Pretty simple.
I gave up.
That sounds pretty depressing, right? Nope. What I gave up was trying to be something for everyone but myself. Really, that’s a no-win scenario. A person can’t change costumes for every single interpersonal encounter they may have during a day. They may get the wardrobe right, but the makeup wrong. Or they get the makeup right and their wig is on crooked. Or they say the wrong lines, even though they so nailed the look.
(Yes, theater training flashback metaphor. SCORE!)
In that example (twisted as it was) no one is happy…or fooled into believing any of it. So why bother, right? Just be yourself. Wear what you like. Say what you want. Be what you want. Those who matter won’t mind, and those who mind don’t matter.
Next step? Bid adieu to the bitter. Say bye-bye to regret. Yep. All that fine spun, well-honed drama-baggage? Let it go. It’s heavy, so much fucking effort to lug about and certainly well past its expiration date. People do what they do for their own reasons, life happens…and keeps on happening. Your ability to move forward through whatever life you choose, in a manner that is graceful and joyful, can’t be done carrying an SUV on your back. Yeah, someone done gone and done you wrong.
Key word: DONE.
And right now you’re saying “But…”.
Fine…go back to step one.
If you’re ready to move on, the next step is getting rid of actual baggage. We all have boxes and closets and garages filled with crap we “might need”. Honestly, if you haven’t needed it in the last year, get rid of it. Have a garage sale, or my favorite choice (and the most rewarding)…donate it. There are oodles of charities out there who will drive a big old truck right up to your door and take all that stuff away to people who really do need stuff. To you, all that extra “baggage” is just reeking of the past. It’s just sitting there in the closet, or those boxes you’ve been meaning to go through just radiating out all sorts of negative stank from way back when. GO through it like an Enron employee with a shredder. Sure, keep the stuff that you hold dear…but assign one box to hold all those memory-keepers. Once that box is full, that’s it. The rest goes. End of story.
You will find, when you get through this step, that you feel lighter. Like when you get your hair cut…but way better.
The next to the last piece of my puzzle was addressing things I had put off. Addressing paperwork that had sat untouched because it was “scary” (the IRS, hospital bills, etc…), getting my health checked out (and yes, there are ways to get this done even if you have no money) and getting my living space in order. The condition of where you live, no matter how big or small, is directly reflected in your attitude. Think about it. You know I’m right. As your Mom often said “Go clean your room!”
Lastly, I resolved to only let things that directly impacted my life be my business. Due to my whole “shining” thing (go back a few posts to get the scoop on that) drama can be a bit more problematic for myself than for others. Great emotional upheaval, sadness, anger, in someone else’s life is unfortunate, but it should not cause upheaval in my own life. Until somewhat recently….it did. Because I feel so much, I felt compelled to fix whatever it was that was jacked-up. Other people’s drama seeped its way into my world. The whispering and chatter led me astray from my own sensible train of thoughts and opinions. It colored my vision, tracked mud all across my perception and tainted relationships. I can only control what I say or do. Anything else is out of my hands. And that…is a HUGE weight off.
And yes…after I climbed my way through all of that (plus some that is my business alone), I found the key. I heard that damned door click shut. I jammed that key in the lock and shot it home.
And all…
was suddenly…
peaceful.
And you know what? Not all that long after, all the windows started opening…and holy crap! I am SO enjoying the sunshine.
It really is…
just…
that…
…simple.
Oh…and BTW….THIS? Is perfection.
15 Sep 2011 Leave a Comment
in Brilliant-like, Everythings Relative, Good Karma, Good Times
Meet my beautiful, perfect and wonderful first grandbaby, Charlotte. Isn’t she lovely?
Congratulations and much love to her spectacular parents!
We could not be more proud!
So…this is where I eat my own words.
15 Sep 2011 2 Comments
in Eating my own words., Girl Parts Tags: adventures, Boobs, breasts, honesty
So…you remember the Boobs Blog from awhile back? Sounded pretty set and confident that plastic surgery was not for me…right? How I was so totally down with all my bras and their convertible wonderment?
Fast forward to now.
Increasing back issues, heavier and heavier duty undergarments, sweat and heat rash in places there should never ever be…and one tragic afternoon in a store dressing room trying on strapless dresses. Then the realization that my front has drifted three whole inches south in just over a year.
Guess who has an appointment for surgery on September 21st?
Yeah…that would be me. The girl currently sprinkling a little seasoning on her own words and having a little nosh.
So… while I am still a huge fan of undergarments, and the wonderful illusions that they can create, I’ve decided to have my front-end alligned. I think I’m pretty awesome…and love me just the way I am…except for this one little thing. So, please accept my apologies and enjoy future postings of my boob-related adventures as I embark on this exciting and slightly scary path of putting my ta-tas back up where they used to be.
While not all of you may be onboard with this endeavor, those who are my friends will understand what a big deal this was for me to change my mind about…and how much I have struggled trying to avoid this most obvious answer to a problem and a half.
So…if you could…please send a good thought my way on the 21st….and remember how brave someone has to be to change their mind.
Quite recently…I’ve changed my mind about quite a number of things.
After Midnight Observations
12 Sep 2011 1 Comment
in Clueless Bits, Late Night Ramblings Tags: bad people, behavior, conversations, gift, good people, honesty, life, manners, mental, talent, thoughts
Sometimes, I find it very enlightening to just step back and watch people interact. This is something I have taken to doing more and more as I age and become more aware of my…hmmm…how to say this without sounding all mystic-wierdo-like? Gift? Talent? Curse? None of those words seem to fit and all of them make me sound like some creepy, sad character from a Stephen King novel.
Let’s just call it a sense.
Maybe everyone has it. Maybe only some realize it’s there. Maybe I’m just lucky…or unlucky…depending on how you look at it.
But, given a situation…joyful, heartbreaking, nerve-wracking, hilarious, terrifying…whatever the case may be…I take a step back and open myself up to reading the swirling orbits of thoughts that drift by.
That sounds creepy again, right?
So be it. Creepy is well more prefered over crazy.
My point is, in any given situation, people react differently. Lucky me….I am all to aware of most of this emotional drift…even from people I don’t know. A terrifying situation sometimes brings out the strength in a person who was always assumed to be weak. In a joyful situation, some might find hesitation…even fear…as it makes them consider their own mortality. In a stressful situation people often react based on their own personal history…acting out toward acquaintances in a manner consistent with how they have reacted toward someone that was close to them in their past…simply from rote emotional memory. Those who are fortunate, have learned to move past any negative baggage and not react based on that past experience. Those who simply walked away from a bad experience might not be able to make that same choice. Happy, sad, cheerful, angry, hopeful, lost…it all comes my way. And this week the volume has been maxed out.
Recently I sat on a couch and watched someone who was so angry…and so intent on asserting their role of martyr…lecture to and hurt someone they barely even knew. While part of what they said was true, the delivery was absolutely crafted by past events where they felt that they had been mistreated and abandoned…and a desperate demand for control. Their thought was that they didn’t know this person…or care to…but they wanted them to hurt. And they felt quite righteous in doing so. All of this information was rolling off them in waves. All of it washing over me. It was so strong…and so venomous…that I got up and walked away. After a moment, I returned and reclaimed my seat. The person who had been berrated, at what should have been a moment of unity and mutual support, was made to feel worthless…unwelcomed…and sad. So very sad. These aren’t things that person said…but the emotions that radiated off of them.
I sat, quite silently, and let it play out. What could I have said? “I know what happened to you”? ”I know why you are so angry”?
That would have been like throwing a match on lighter fluid.
I know enough not to step into that particular pile.
But I seem to have some sort of open door to other people’s vibes. And it evidently only opens in. Before I got a grip on whatever this is I would react to the reads that I got, which to others I am certain was like coming in at the middle of a movie. One thing is going on out loud…yet I’m getting a whole other soundtrack…often with all the things someone isn’t saying tossed in. It’s very much like having all the clues to a crime, yet no proof of how I know the answers. Which I’m certain makes little to no sense, except to those who experience this same sort of thing.
Anyhow, maybe this is why I’m so firmly straight-forward with people…or not communicative at all. If I’m presented with open, honest and good vibes…I can relax and be myself. If I feel a hostile, dishonest or mistrustful vibe…I tend to clam up. Rare for me…I know. And that clamming up allows me to focus on whatever is being broadcast…to sort out the why behind it.
This week in particular, I’ve spent a lot of time clammed up. And, quite honestly, wishing this thing had a damned mute button. I’m exhausted from hearing/feeling people’s unspoken venom. Their misplaced anger. Their incorrect assumptions. Their hatefulness based in things that don’t matter or don’t exist. It’s been like having six radios on that switch stations as often as I change where I look. Oddly…it has been a bit of an epiphany. I can only do what I can do for me. I can’t fix anyone, or make them change what they believe. And I am beginning to be able to choose what I hear/feel.
This became apparent when my gaze drifted to a little boy reaching up and grasping his father’s hand. The little boy was a chemo patient…something I knew without knowing…and couldn’t have been more than eight or nine. I watched as he squeezed his father’s hand, looked up at him…and as over the rattle and hum of anger and misdirected pain, in the middle of the night…I heard/felt the little boy tell his father “Don’t worry, Daddy” without uttering a single word.
That, alone, made up for everything else.
Why I Blog
11 Sep 2011 Leave a Comment
Someone once asked me why I write, and specifically…why I blog…a very public means of expression. I thought I would take a moment to explain.
Life is full of all sorts of experiences. Good, bad, funny, challenging, educational, rewarding and sometimes ridiculous experiences. How one sifts through and absorbs those experiences differs from person to person. Some people keep it all inside. Some have close friends to bounce things off of and get feedback. Some see therapists. Some drink. Some eat. Some partake in drugs or some other form of destructive behavior. Some create works of art or culinary brilliance. I’m not going to pass judgement on any of those ways and means. People do what they need to do to survive.
I? Write.
Seems like the most sane and least expensive route to sanity, huh?
Yes, sometimes what I write may make waves. That comes with the territory of being honest, and I am fully able to ride those waves. Why? Because it helps me, and maybe others, work through thoughts. Many times I come to a conclusion that was apparent. But other times, by writing things out, I come to rest in a place I didn’t expect.
In my writing/blogging I am very careful to not name names. My sorting through things is, in no way, motivated toward calling out anyone. If someone recognizes themself in what I write, they may choose to do with my thoughts what they like. Discard them. Ponder on them. Use them to look inward on themselves, and possibly see what image they put forward to someone else. If what I write makes one angry…I’m sorry they feel that way. If it makes them happy…I’m pleased. If it makes them think….I’m encouraged. Honestly? Any emotional response means that I moved someone with my words.
Isn’t that what any writer or artist strives toward?
I rarely demand that anyone read what I write…as I write for me. But I make it public because to do otherwise, to me, is like secret drinking or eating. I choose to put myself out there. Simple as that. Sometime it’s entertaining. Sometime it’s heartbreaking. Sometimes it’s eye-opening. And quite often it has no purpose at all.
That’s. Just. Me
Recently I edged open the door to expressing myself through art. So now I have two avenues by which I can express and find peace.
This? Makes me feel incredibly blessed.
So…I shall stay the course.
Hope that sums things up.
Can you spare some change?
30 Aug 2011 Leave a Comment
in Good Karma, IMHO, Late Night Ramblings, Random Junk Tags: advice, good ideas, karma
I’m all full of deep thoughts tonight. O.K., it’s morning…and my insomnia is running rampant like a three year old jacked up on Mountain Dew. All the same…deeeeeep thoughts.
I was thinking about how people deal with change. Specifically changes people go through as they forge their way through life. More specifically, I was pondering how I am perceived by people in my life. It seems that each of the people I considered have chosen a who I was at a certain place in my life and decided that was who I would be forever and ever, amen. My Mom (who I love dearly) seems to still see me in my early teens. Full of drama, questoning everything and prone to flights of fancy and know-it-all-ness. My Dad (who I miss terribly but fondly) always saw me as the five year old me. The Little Princess, full of wonder and needing to be taken care of and pampered. My brother appears to see me at somewhere between the 16 and 20 year old me. Spoiled, materialistic and entitled. Still other people only remember me as broke, unemployed and desperate to just survive. A couple people have even created some fictional image of who I am…and swear by it to this day. I haven’t figured out that bit yet.
But what I do know is…none of those characters reflect who I am now. Sure, they were all stages of me evolving, but…at 46…I have moved on. Life, and all the lessons learned along the way, has changed me. Life itself has changed, a number of times. Fate has swung one way then the other. Over and over and over. Finally settling where I sit now. Now I know not everyone rolls with the punches, as I have become accustomed to doing. And I think that, as I grew and changed, maybe that wasn’t so cool for some people. People tend to like those in their circle to stay in character. You know…stay in the box they were put in…mentally. To accept that someone has changed (for good or bad)…I guess messes up casting on their stage of life.
But really, I would think everyone should afford people a second chance. Maybe someone goes through a bad patch. Has a bad week, month, year. Doesn’t mean that they wil always be a grumpy, sad person…right? Maybe they run into some good fortune…and where they were once stressed and bitter, they are now relaxed and happy. How would you know, unless you toss away that type-casting you have all set up in your head and open your mind to who they are now? Maybe, just maybe, you might have been mistaken about a person…due to perceptions honed through what others say…or because your only exposure to them was many years ago.
Or maybe someone is doing better now than they have in the past. That doesn’t change their core being that you appreciated then. It just changes the way they now live. Change does not stop. Learning to accept it, cast away the past and roll on is finding peace.
The idea of second chances is something I’m embracing. If I extend, I hope it will be extended to me.
So…here’s a thought (on helping and karma and stuff)…
30 Aug 2011 Leave a Comment
in Brilliant-like, Good Karma, Late Night Ramblings Tags: charity, good ideas, Hope & Help, karma
I was thinking about charity today. How to help the ones I believe in, and how to give others the opportunity to pitch in as well.
No…I am not starting my badgering for the Seminole Stroll for Hope & Help way early (yet)…so just hear me out. This is my brilliant idea of the day.
We all have skills, and from time to time someone asks us to help them out by employing those skills. Example: My husband, although retired, often offers his computer knowledge and repair skills to friends and family. I, from time to time, offer my web design skills…or decorating assistance…or writing help. Almost every time one of us lends a hand, the person receiving the assistance asks how much they should pay us for our services. Usually both of us only ask for reimbursement for parts (in the computer repair scenario)…but wave away any notion of being paid for our time.
So here is my idea: what if…all of us out there in the world did one “job” (for lack of a better term) or provided one piece of merchandise once a week and asked not for money…but, in return for our sharing of expertise, the recipient make a donation to our favorite charity. Just print up some cards that say “It was a pleasure helping you out today. In lieu of payment for my service, please make a donation to (fill in name and website of charity here). The amount would be up to them (maybe say “whatever you were thinking of paying me…just donate it here. Then hand them the card)…as would the choice to carry through with actually making the donation, or just declare it their lucky day to get something for free.
Of course, ideally, the person would do as we requested…but either way we did something good, right? And maybe we could all inspire someone else to do something good. Just once a week, for one person. If everyone took up the practice…think of the change we could make. What this world needs is more people doing good stuff..and this would be a cool kind of karma-based bartering way to go about it. Stuff gets done, people make donations, charities become able to do more good for people who, in turn (hopefully) go out into the world and do more good.
I think it could work!
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