Taking my vitamins

another wonderful photo sent by a friend!

There seems to be  a theme this week, in the posts, of helping others. My mother reminded me, at breakfast on Saturday, that even witnessing an act of kindness has a positive impact on our health. When I see a video of someone being helped, it makes me feel better…that is, until the negative part of my brain starts saying things like,”What about all of the other animals (or people) out there?” or “How could someone do this?”…then I don’t feel so good.

When this happens I try to dismiss that social-political-critical self, that wants to ruin my moment of connection and love, and say to it, “Thank you for sharing, but I am going to feel good right now because it is healthier.” I think of these stories as my vitamins, and I like to let my system absorb them, let them really soak in…

“….a simple act of kindness directed toward another improves the functioning of the immune system and stimulates the production of serotonin in both the recipient of the kindness and the person extending the kindness. Even more amazing is that persons observing the act of kindness have  similar beneficial results…Kindness extended, received or observed beneficially impacts the physical health and feelings of everyone involved.” From The Power of Intention by Wayne Dyer

The video below is of a blind dog rescued from a trash pile. It is lovely to see the rescue workers move right in and help him out. I was crying tears of gratitude and joy as I watched the kindness extended to this little dog!

http://www.godvine.com/Blind-Dog-Living-in-a-Trash-Pile-Gets-Rescued-1290.html

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A friendly world

another life

Jack and I took a ride yesterday to the area where I grew up.  This part of upstate NY is still very rural, remote and poor. Stony Creek is a little town about 10 miles from my hometown. I used to go there on weekends, to a bar named the Stony Creek Inn. They played country-western music, fights broke out on a fairly regular basis, and there were many more trucks parked outside than cars.

We were trying to find a goat cheese farm named Nettle Meadow, and got lost twice. Both times, we stopped and asked for directions (no iPhone service). The friendliness, of the men who tried to help us, was so sweet, but Jack always meets people like this, whether in a city or in the middle of nowhere. Jack is a friendly man. He is not put out by helping people, and that is what he attracts back.

“Loving people live in a loving world. Hostile people live in a hostile world. Same world“. Wayne Dyer

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Begin

smiling sky

This past Sunday afternoon I found myself lying on the couch, not wanting to move.  As I looked around the room, I saw clutter on my computer desk, cat hair on the rug, the coffee table had stacks of books on it that I hadn’t put away, under it was a box filled with odds and ends that I didn’t want to throw out, but hadn’t organized; cards sent by friends, a necklace made of small shells that I will never wear, coins, photographs, bank statements, cd’s out of their cases, post office slips, sheets of blank paper, envelopes… Everything, including me, seemed dull and dingy somehow. On top of that, I felt guilty for being in this state of mind.

I thought, “I need help.” The idea came, “Clean up your mess.” I got up, turned on an inspirational cd, and made a commitment not to stop until I had cleaned off the entire coffee table, which seemed like a big deal at the time. I felt better almost instantly. I used to tackle things like “the whole house” but have found that when I’m not feeling great, just the idea of those big projects more often than not, keeps me immobile. When I start with something small, like the coffee table, I almost always continue on to more.

After a few good hours of cleaning, I went outside to get a breath of fresh air and this was the sky that faced me.

“I had as many doubts as anyone else. Standing on the starting line, we’re all cowards.” Alberto Salazar

*Wayne Dyer has a number of really good, inspirational cd sets from live lectures. I can whole-heartedly recommend, The Power of Intention, The Secrets of an Inspirational Life, It’s Never Crowded Along the Extra Mile.

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