Do You Know How Great You Are?

Compliment someone today, and mean it. 

A genuine compliment can boost someone’s confidence and that is a great feeling. If you like your coworker’s blouse or new haircut (or both!), tell her. Open and honest communication works wonders for developing relationships and makes everybody’s day a little bit nicer.

Learn the Art of Letting Go

After all, we are all human and we have a little baggage. Or a lot,

I sometimes will hold in my feelings until it is like a dam about to overflow. Luckily for me, I have had the opportunity to learn from great authors like Sue Patton Thoele, Melody Beattie and Mark Nepo that we just have to move on toward the positive. Release any repressed anger and pain that you have been harnessing. Allow yourself to let go of the past so that you can proceed to live in the present without worry, fear, or resentment. Remember that this isn’t a one-time event, but a process. Letting go is an act of kindness for yourself and from yourself. Once you can accept that life isn’t always something you can predict or control, yours will eventually become more positive and joyous.

“I’ve learned that no matter what happens, or how bad it seems today, life does go on, and it will be better tomorrow.” –Maya Angelou

Shed and Help Others Get Ahead

I bet you have too many shoes. I do and I really only like a few pair that are comfy and look good, too.

 Donate your unused new and “gently used,” footwear to soles4souls.org and you will help somebody who need them more than you, do. Many of these to go folks looking to rejoin the workforce and need nice interview shoes and on the job kicks, too.

Help Mother Earth Breathe Easier: Plant Trees

Have you heard about the amazingly ambitious goal of The Nature Conservancy to plant a BILLON trees and restore the forest of the world?

 From the rainforests in South America to China and even in the Arctic Circle, this hardy group of tree huggers is doing their darndest to recreate the woodlands and rainforests everywhere they can.  I urge you to look at the map to see how far they are getting; it is impressive and gives me so much hope about our future. www.nature.org

Keep Paying It Forward: Make It a Kinder World

Stop for a moment and think of someone who needs a gesture of kindness.

 Perhaps it is something kind that someone once gave to you. With gratitude for what was given, reach out and give back. It can be a simple gesture, like sending a card, or calling someone who is sick and saying you care. You may well recall the movie based on the  book but if you want ideas and to connect to other kindly folks, go towww;payitforwardfoundation. org. Pay It Forward  is about all people, from all walks of life giving to someone else and making a positive difference. At last count there were more than 500, 000 people in 60 countries around the world participating on the day.

Visit a Shelter and Meet a New Family Member: Adopt a Cat or Kitten

Millions of cats roam our street  looking for a kind person to take them in and give them a new home and some are feral and want nothing to do with people.

This huge population is especially acute at this time of year since shelters are overflowing with all the kittens born during the springtime. Unfortunately the message of spay/neuter still hasn’t got through to some people and out the animal goes when they realize she is pregnant--out she goes, where, if she is lucky, she will arrive at a shelter. Shelter cats make excellent companions. However, just as cats give people love and companionship, humans need to care for their cat and provide her with an appropriate loving home. Careful research and planning is the key to adopting the right cat for your family, since adopting one should never be an impulse decision and indoor felines can live up to twenty years

Plant a Tree for All Our Tomorrows

I grew up in a deeply forested state, West Virginia and was taught from a child to know and love trees. When I visited last time and drove all around to see relatives in far flung counties, I noticed huge swaths of brown amongst the green and asked what the heck was going on that seemed to be killing trees. 

That is how I learned about “acid rain,” an unfortunate by-product of coalmining, logging and too many chemical plants. On our 300-acre farm, no trees are cut, only planted so we are doing our part. In the settled of the great prairies and western states, trees were felled to “clean the land.” That is, in part, being rectified by a special effort to protect trees in the “last frontier.” Check out www.americanforest.org to see how you can help. Oh, and start in your own yard. Got room for a couple of trees? Start digging and planting and know you will enjoy years of beauty and leave behind a legacy for generations to come from your own good work.