7 Ways to Brighten Someone's Day

Image source: deviantart

Today's post was inspired by this week's quote "The smallest deed is better than the greatest intention" and the concept of *Random Acts of Kindness. Being kind to one another is so important that they even set aside a week in February specifically for engaging in random acts of kindness, which is commendable. While this puts kindness in the spotlight, it is something we should practice every day.

It is said that charity begins at home, and charity, in this instance, means showing love and kindness. Here are a few budget-friendly ways to show charity to your friends and family.

1. Call or e-mail a friend. It's always nice to answer the phone or check your inbox and reconnect with a friend, perhaps someone with whom you have lost touch lately.
   
   
2. Treat a friend to lunch. We will often treat people for birthdays, anniversaries, or other special occasions, but why wait? Surprises are the best special occasions.
   
   
3. Send a card. With today's technology it's easy to overlook the simple things.  Send a fun card to someone to let them you you're thinking of them. It is a small act that can have big benefits. Choose a happy, uplifting card and write a short note. This is sure to bring a smile to the recipient's face.
   
   
4. Make a gift basket. Small, thoughtful gifts don't have to break your budget. You can find small baskets, candles and holders, soaps, silk flowers, ribbon and other small items for a few dollars.  For a work-at-home friend a gift for the home office can fill the bill. Put together some small note pads, pens, and paper clips in an inexpensive desk caddy. Hint: Visit the dollar stores, but keep it tasteful, not tacky, and customize it for the individual's personality.
   
   
5. A gift from the heart. Nothing says love like a homemade gift, especially if you bake or garden. So, instead of shopping, use your talents instead. Bake muffins or cookies, make a soup mix with dried beans and seasonings, or harvest a basket of fresh tomatoes or squash from your garden. This is a chance to let your inner light shine.
   
   
6. Make a charitable donation. Choose a charity close to their heart (or yours) and make a small donation in their name, or in honor or memory of someone in their family.
   
   
7. Brighten a stranger's day. It is easy to do things for our friends, but not always so easy when it comes to strangers. How to approach them, what is appropriate and how will a random kindness be received? Here are some thoughts. Smile at someone first, pay them a compliment, buy a coffee or share a cab and pay the fare or pay their bus fare.
   
   Don't do something just to get something in return...you will see the rewards in your own life.

Please share your ideas or experiences in the comment section.

*The Random Acts of Kindness Foundation is an internationally recognized non-profit organization founded upon the powerful belief in kindness and dedicated to providing resources and tools that encourage acts of kindness.

Quote of the Week

The smallest deed is better than the greatest intention. - John Burroughs

No matter how small the act, any deed well done for the good of someone else is worth more than all the good intentions, however big or small, that are never acted upon.  So don't just talk the talk, follow your words with action.

Night Falls

As night falls

And evening fades

Painted into subtle shades

Of purple, blue and gray

Quote of the Week

"Silent" and "listen" are spelled with the same letters.  - Unknown

These two important words go hand in hand since you can't do the second without being the first. But really listening to someone is more than just being politely quiet while awaiting your turn to speak. It is listening intently and with as much interest as we display when we are speaking. Perhaps we should listen unto others as we would have them listen unto us.  

Today's lesson is to think about how we listen.  

Quote of the Week

The impossible can always be broken down into possibilities. - Unknown

For example, when faced with what seems to be an impossible task, take a step back and review what really needs to be done.  Divide it into smaller segments that can be accomplished more easily and you will begin to see progress.  The more headway you make, the more motivated you become and you will soon see that the once "impossible" task is on it's way to completion.

Quote of the Week

Nobody grows old merely by living a number of years. We grow old by deserting our ideals. Years may wrinkle the skin, but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul.  - Samuel Ullman

Every so often I get a notification from Facebook about friends' birthdays.  This week there are five, so this quote jumped out at me this morning.

Samuel Ullman was a German born poet, businessman and humanitarian who immigrated the United States at a young age to escape discrimination.  He was best known for his poem entitled "Youth", which was said to be a favorite of General Douglas MacArthur.

Age isn't so much a number as state of mind.  We may gain knowledge, wisdom and experience over the years, but we can maintain a youthful mind by staying true to ourselves. Live life to the fullest and keep your soul wrinkle-free.

Quote of the Week

How doth the little busy bee

Improve each shining hour,

And gather honey all the day

From every opening flower!

- Isaac Watts, "Divine Songs"

I hope everyone had a happy and joyous Easter!

In the Oven?

 

Dood's in the oven again!  There is a small table in front of the heat vent that forms a perfect little spot to collect the heat.  We call this the oven, and it is one of Dood's favorite spots during the winter.  I know it's because it is warm and toasty in there when the heat runs. During a warm spell when I switched to air conditioning, he chose other cozy spots. When the temperature dropped this week and I turned the heat on again, he gravitated back to the table. 

I wanted to get a good picture of him in there, so I put the camera on the floor and just as I pushed the button, Sophie walked by. Instead of a botched picture, I thought it was an interesting perspective.

Quote of the Week

Science has never drummed up quite as effective a tranquilizing agent as a sunny spring day.  
- W. Earl Hall

Beretta (a.k.a. the Stalker Kitty)

The lovely Beretta, from next door, is modeling our quote today.  She is blissfully unaware that she is laying on an ant nest.  Rest assured she has too much residual kitten energy to hold that position for long.

A Pretty Face

I took a picture of Sophie.

I'm so pretty!

Then I applied the brush stroke technique
in Paint Shop Pro.

I could be a painting.

This gives it an Impressionist look.

Isn't she lovely?

Quote of the Week

We all live under the same sky, but we don't all have the same horizon. - Konrad Adenauer

Minnesota

These two places are over 1,600 miles apart yet connected by the same land, beneath the same sky.  Our earth is an amazing place with so many different sights - oceans, mountains, plains, and deserts.  A lifetime of horizons upon which to gaze.    

Florida

No Fooling

Image source: Gisela Giardino

The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, but wiser people so full of doubts. -Bertrand Russell

Quote of the Week

We are each gifted in a unique and important way. It is our privilege and our adventure to discover our own special light.  - Evelyn Dunbar

We are who we are supposed to be. The adventure is figuring out what makes us who we are. This isn't a one-time thing, though. As we grow and change, we learn more about ourselves and our gifts and talents. Be who you are and let your light shine.

This One's For Rosie!

This is an excerpt from an email I received last week from Jenny at PartyPail.com.  

Dear Linda,

My name is Jenny Franklin. I work with PartyPail.com; my job is to search blogs such as yours for individuals who put a great deal of effort into making birthdays extra special.

I am writing you because of your post on Rosie's 16th birthday party. If anyone deserves a birthday party, it certainly is a cat that's lived 16 years! On behalf of PartyPail.com I would like to award you the "Best Decorations" badge. Little Rosie is so adorable!

Thank you, Jenny. I was surprised and pleased to have Rosie's party post selected. Of course, I accept this award in memory of Rosie, after all it was his party. 

Quote of the Week

I don't like that man. I must get to know him better.
- Abraham Lincoln

To me this is an odd phrase, and not something we hear often, if ever at all. Usually if we don't like someone, we tend to avoid them if we can, or if not, hopefully we practice civil tolerance. 

Mr. Lincoln deals with this a bit differently. It sounds as if his initial dislike of a person intrigues him, as if he is saying to himself, "I don't like him.  Why is that?"  In getting to know him better he may either decide he does, in fact, like him, or that indeed, he does not, but now he has a clear picture of why.

What are your thoughts on this?

Quote of the Week

For each petal on the shamrock

This brings a wish your way

Good health, good luck, and happiness

For today and every day.

(unknown)

For a little history of St. Patrick's Day, check out this post 

I wrote this a few years ago.

Have fun and stay safe!

Quote of the Week

Clouds come floating into my life, no longer to carry rain or usher storm, but to add color to my sunset sky. - Rabindranath Tagore

Sunsets are like snowflakes, no two are alike, because no two clouds are alike.  Even those that brought forth rain or storm, when spent, will glow peacefully as the sun bids us good night.

What is a Nebelung?

I often told Rosie that they broke the mold when they made him, that he was one of a kind and there would never be another like him. Yes, I do talk to my cats, and we had some interesting conversations in spite of the fact that neither of us knew what the other was saying.

When asked what kind of cat he was, I had no answer.  For years I wondered what his parents might have looked like.  His coloring was that of a Russian Blue, but they were short haired, and his hair was anything but short, and I was among those who had never heard of a Nebelung.  

Quite often Rosie would lay in my lap while I was on the computer, so one night I was sitting there missing him and I Googled "long-haired gray cat with green eyes."  Imagine my surprise when I found this video.

Why hadn't I done this sooner? It's my Rosie right down to his glowing green eyes and silky silver-gray hair. I wish I known this back when we adopted Rosie rather than finding out after he was gone. I always knew he was special, and even though I only saw two other cats that looked like him, I never realized how rare he was in the cat world.  It would have been great to be able to say 'he's a Nebelung'.

He was born in 1997 and considering the breed has only been in existence since the mid 1980s and I only found two Nebelung breeders in the U.S. (neither in my area), he may not have been a purebred, but he definitely had the characteristics and personality of the breed. 

Here's a little history on the origin of the Nebelung.  Siegfried, born in 1984, was the first registered Nebelung.  His parents were a black domestic shorthair named Elsa and a black longhair that resembled an Angora.  Later, Brunhilde was born, and this was the foundation for the Nebelung breed.  The breed standard was written by owner, Cora Cobb, based on the standard for the Russian Blue, with the difference being the coat length.  The name Nebelung comes from the German word nebel, meaning fog or mist.  

Here are more pictures of my "creature of the mist":

This one shows off his magnificent mane.

Look at those eyes!

A little desk time with mama.

It just didn't get any better than this.

I miss you my friend.

Quote of the Week

Remember how far you've come, not just how far you have to go. You are not where you want to be, but neither are you where you used to be. 
- Rick Warren

Life is a series of journeys, and on every journey there are three points; the starting point (A), the mid point (B) and the arrival (C). 

While you can't get from point A to point C without going through point B, everything you experience between A and B will lay the groundwork for as you continue your journey to C.

It's A Wrap

It is the 28th and final day of the Third Second Annual 30 Minus 2 Days of Writing challenge hosted by Nicky and Mike at We Work for Cheese and today's prompt is And then my brain exploded.  Congratulations to all the other participants.  We made it!

As the sun sets upon the 2014 30 minus 2 Days of Writing Challenge, we take a look back at the past 28 days.

We laughed, we cried, we lied, some made it, some faked it.  It was chaos, it was a dream, but it was no accident.

We ate gouda, and drank vodka and left the empty bottles all over the floor.  Hint, hint, we need a maid.  

And then she said, "damn, did you post that on Facebook"?  How did you find out? Uh...there are things best left unsaid.  

We fended off zombies, aliens and succubi which left us scatterbrained, naked and lost.  Some developed temporary insanity and played Dylan tunes endlessly.  Can you turn that down? My ears are ringing!

We took this challenge on one bite at a time, and it tasted like chicken. Some swore in their best Shakespearean English that they would participate in another challenge when Hell freezes over. Others just went incommunicado.

We shared good times, made new friends, and caught up with old friends.

But when all was said and done, mon cerveau a explosé!