Thankful for Friends and Neighbors

I am thankful for good friends and neighbors! I had the opportunity to connect and socialize with both a good friend and a great neighbor today, which was a timely reminder for me on the importance of having good people in my life. I find that Facebook makes it easier for me to stay connected; and, I am grateful that many of my friends, neighbors and family members use it.

I am thankful that those in my life who do use Facebook are mindful of netiquette, which is the term used for internet etiquette. Good manners and positive treatment is very important whether we are on-line, face-to-face or on-the-phone. With social networks such as Facebook and Twitter, which are so public, I am very conscious of how I present myself.

I make an effort to post only positive messages; moreover, I make a point to praise and promote my Facebook friends whenever I can. I value people and their feelings, therefore, I make a practice of only stating kind and positive statements about others. If I cannot say something nice, I do not say anything at all. I will not sing-song with others who wish to go down the path of negativity; and, fortunately for me, my friends rarely take that path. This builds meaningful interpersonal relationships and positive communities. I appreciate my good friends and neighbors.

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Yard Sales are…

Yard sales are not just an opportunity to purge your clutter; they are also great to reconnect with schoolmates, socialize with neighbors and meet new people!
~ Dr. Angela Kowitz Orobko

Yesterday during the yard sale, I had the opportunity to socialize with many people as they browsed. It was delightful! I got to know my neighbors better, met new people and I got to spend quality time with a schoolmate.

It was wonderful to get to know my schoolmate at a deeper level. I learned, like me, she was a victim of bullying in high school. I had no idea. Bullying reared its ugly head in many ways during our time in high school. I would love the opportunity to capture everyone’s story.

As I socialized with browsers, there was a lovely eighty-plus-year-old woman who shared her story of being bullied in her school years. I always knew that bullying transcended the years. I dare say it goes as far back as to when humanity came to existence. Her comment that lightened the moment was that she outlived her tormentors. It made me pause and ponder.

The yard sale gave me an opportunity to promote myself and Hearts That Care as many asked what I do for a living. I got to share with them that I am an anti-bullying expert, education specialist, and an advocate of kindness; as well as,  inspire positivity, creativity and productivity to empower people( from bullying themselves, being bullied and bullying others and the environment) through speaking and training engagements, programming, art, writing, and one-on-one life coaching.

The highlight of the yard sale was being able to give out six Gifts of Love. The recipients were filled with joy. The eighty-year-old woman said I made her day. It is so true, when you give of yourself, you receive so much more in return. It is a double blessing. Below are images of the bags that went home with some phenomenal people. I am so grateful!

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• Don’t Overspend on a Lawn Mower or Other Home Maintenance Equipment (242/365) (thesimpledollar.com)
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A Great Heartfelt Day

I am keeping this article short today. I will elaborate more tomorrow. Today was a GREAT, HEARTFELT day! My family had an estate/yard sale today. This took teamwork! This took patience! And, this took lots of love!

At the end of it all if felt great to do something as a family. I got to get to know neighbors and a schoolmate a bit better; and, I got to meet new people! It was awesome! It really wasn’t about making a bit of money; it was more about giving your heart to others, sharing time and stories. I feel richer than I have felt in a long time! I love the community I live in and deeply love my family for making our day successful on so many levels!

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A Community of Angels

“We are, each of us, angels with only one wing, and we can only fly embracing each other.”
– Luciano Decrescenzo

We need each other. To deny this simple fact would be foolish. Oh, sure, we could survive without others, but to truly live, soar and be happy, it takes us to be in commune with others. It is spiritually uplifting to embrace others and be love for others. Look at children. They gravitate towards each other, play and embrace. We can learn so much from this young community of angels. 

Hunger!

What is your hunger, your desire? For what are you hungry? What is that one thing your heart desires to be or have? Is it joy, bliss, fame, success… ? What are you doing every day to work towards that hunger or desire? Do you at least think about it? Do you see yourself there already?

No! Why not? Visualize yourself in your happy place, in your success. What are you doing in that future self?

Me, I am accepting a Nobel Peace Prize for my work in anti-bullying incentives and promoting love and kindness in the world. I am experiencing deep and intense joy and gratitude, because I know I did not do this all by myself. I did it with the help of everyone.

Everyone who believed in love and kindness, in themselves and in me. I am relishing this moment! I am celebrating with the world, because it is a better place because I am here to contribute to it.

I knew one day my daily blogging, creating art, writing, sharing of my time and self would eventually create more love and kindness where I live and makes its way around the world. How could my love and kindness not be experienced by others. Sure, it seemed years ago that I only made a small difference, but I grew to learn that it was those small differences that made a big difference in the lives of others. And, when they experienced joy, they spread this love to others. And so it grew and grew and grew.

Tears well in my eyes to see how much love there is in the world, now…not just because of me, but because each of you were with me. You made a difference, too. We did it together and I feel so blessed to be celebrating this moment with everyone.

That is a glimpse into my future. What does yours look like? What is your hunger, your desire? 

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Determination

Determination is when inspiration, motivation and action come together. It is the fuel that feeds our passion. I am ready to do what I need to do to create a more loving and kinder world. It may be one blog at a time, one heart at a time, and one Gift of Love at a time; but, I am determined to keep going and make things happen. My heart breaks each time I learn that another person has committed suicide because he or she could no longer take the bullying! CLICK HERE  for the recent story on the seventh grade girl who recently took her life. 

I am determined to change that. VICTIMS no more!!! I want to create SURVIVORS of bullying. I want to create POSITIVE LEARNING and BUSINESS ENVIRONMENTS, where KIND and LOVING words and actions are COMMONLY PRACTICED and not the exception. Let me ask each of you this, when you are out and about your communities and at work, do you become absorbed in your business? Do you become so focused that you lose site that there are others around you? 

I am not saying that is bad nor am I passing judgment. I just want to make everyone aware how we can affect others in a positive way with very little effort. Encourage our youth by being role models for them. Let us unplug from our smart phones when around people whenever it is possible. Make eye contact and smile with others as much as you can. Make a point to greet others when around other people.

Try to value everyone with whom you interact at the grocery store, gasoline station, at work, at play and wherever you have an opportunity to make connections (especially when you are out and about with your children). It does not take much to make others feel valued. A little love truly goes a long way. And, children and teenagers pick up on more than we are aware as they really do watch the adults in their lives.  

How you interact with others is a visual cue to the children in your life. Our children learn what is appropriate and what is inappropriate by how you act and react with others. Take for instance how you interact in traffic situations when you are in a rush to get somewhere, are you patient or impatient with the slower traffic ahead of you? Are you on your mobile phone? 

Most likely I am blogging to the choir; but, I know I am even guilty at times of not being completely present. It is easy to get so focused in what we are doing that we ignore what is going on around us; and, in some instances this type of focus is quite appropriate. I am determined to do more and get my anti-bullying/kindness-promoting programming out into the our world. This is my passion.

You can do your part simply by taking baby steps to smile more and spread around a little more love (even if you feel it is undeserved).  Do we honestly deserve the love we have been given by Jesus Christ? Every one of us fall short, but, God is Love. And Love does not pass judgement. Let us all live a life in determination, a determination to create more positive experiences. It truly is our choice. Let’s do it! 

I will be adding more content and programs to my organization’s website, Hearts That Care, this month, so please check back often. 

Related articles

• What are the signs that my child may be bullying others online? (education.com)
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Transparency

Transparency is a word that recently has been used more and more to describe openness, particularly when it comes to people, organizations and ideal governments. Transparency is being translucent/clear, open and honest with yourself and your intentions.  There is no hidden agenda to be found. Everything is clear and honest. All actions and words are genuine and sincere. There is no ambiguity. When people are transparent, then trust and love can develop. Through transparency, ideal communities can be created.

These transparent communities of people with clear missions and openness are the ones that will wonderfully produce positive changes in the world such as world peace, love and abundance with one specific mission at a time. These specific missions can take on many forms, such as, creating a community garden to fill the nutritional needs of the community, producing an exchange site where a community can trade goods among themselves they no longer need or want for things they can use, or creating learning centers where people can exchange ideas in their immediate community.

Eventually, these ideas, as they are met with success, will be used in other communities. Success in one community will fuel successes in other communities as long as the intentions of the communities stay transparent and pure. This, in turn, would lead to world-wide peace, love and abundance. There are so many possibilities where very little resources and/or monies need to be used. All these possibilities simply start with transparent intentions from an individual who then gain the trust of others with similar ideals. Consider transparency; what does it look like for you and your community?

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Transitions

Transitions are those times in people’s lives when change occurs. A person moves from one time or event in his or her life to another. It can be a physical or spiritual change. Smooth and gradual transitions are easiest to a person’s being. Transitions are neutral in the sense that one can transition from a joyful existence to a negative one just as easily as one can transition from an existence of negative energy to one that is positive and joyful. In a sense, each person is in a form of transition as each person is physically aging from one moment to the next.

Besides aging, many also have emotional, spiritual and/or career transitions. How one chooses to feel during this transition is entirely up to that person. Transitions can be difficult if a person holds onto the past, whether it is regret or a longing to be who he or she once was. Letting go of the past is will ease the transition. Another harmonious way to handle a transition is to be completely present in the moment. What are you experiencing or feeling, right now? You can choose to see each present moment as a blessing and a gift.

Consider all those things that bring you joy or activities you would like to try. Do not hold back, indulge in those activities that you bring you joy or you believe you will bring you delight. These events in your life will ease all the hard transitions you are making in your life. Remember, each of us are in some form of transition. Everyone is in the flow of experiences. Embrace your transitions and let go of any negative feelings that seem attached to it.

The unknown factor, when one is in transition is the scariest. Fear arises when a person does not know who he or she will become or how he or she will end up. Consider this, you are in control of your feelings and you get to choose how to react or respond to each and every thing that is presented to you. How do you feel at this very moment?

What would you like your future to look like? It is good for a person to have a vision of what he or she would like to become. This will help a person create goals and strategies to get there; however, it is best to be open to all experiences as often life may give a person shortcut or an opportunity. So, let go of any limiting beliefs and keep your sights wide.

Another idea, is to be the person you want to become (mentally). If that person is a successful writer or artist, then take on that persona. There are many ways to get from here to there. There is no one correct path when a person is in transition. 

Also, consider your community, with whom do you spend time? Is the influence of your community aligned with your beliefs and values? What kind of connections have you made with others? How can they help you during your transition? What is your level of enthusiasm and zest for life? Are you in balance? What do you have right now that you are most grateful? Consider every aspect of your life and visualize everything in it that has been a blessing. Is there a way to build upon the blessings in your life to ease the transition in you are experiencing? Most of all, embrace your transitions. Transitions are a part of everyone’s life.

Community (Feb. 17 Post)

Community is a term often thrown around these days to define so many things, but what does the term community truly convey especially to you? Geographically, most live in a community, which stems from the biological definition of community: a group of interacting organisms sharing an environment. In an educational setting you have learning communities, where groups of students are learning together. Sometimes you can have learning communities in work environments, where companies, institutions and organizations have programs in place where their employees can continue their education.  

A community may also refer to groups that share common values or interests; furthermore, these groups get together in a regular basis to interact for a common cause or to socialize or both. These are the types of community that can make the most powerful impact on our world either in a positive or negative way. It is best that we join together in a community to promote a positive change such as promoting recycling in our neighborhoods or feeding the hungry. One can be in multiple communities like a church, a social service club or organization, a book club, an art league and on-line social networks, such as Facebook or Twitter (or both).  

Using our positive influences in our communities we can sway our group to do great things. It is with positive intentions, common beliefs and shared resources that communities can do wonderful deeds to promote a more caring and loving world. With the birth and development of the internet, communities can span huge geographical areas reaching all over the globe. This is often called the GLOBAL COMMUNITY.

Virtual communities can greatly influence the dynamics of our world and have the potential to do many wonderful deeds to promote a more loving and caring world through  global awareness, intent and action. The world is indeed getting smaller in the way people can influence each other through all the communities we are involved. The question is, how involved are you? Consider the following, how involved would you like to be? The choice is entirely up to you. You can become part of the solution simply by showing up in your community. 

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