There are several things I could talk about tonight, but they all boil down to one simple thing, and that is our interaction with people and how it affects society. Yesterday I took my mom to visit an old friend of hers. It is a woman that lived next door, but due to health problems she is in a home. She is bed bound because of breaking the same hip twice, and she can no longer walk. It was immediately evident when we walked into her room, how it lifted her spirits. She told her story, about how she has been bedridden for 3 years now, but she is working to get out of bed so that she can go home. She has to hit a goal of being able to sit on the edge of her bed unassisted for 30 minutes. She is currently at 17. It did appear that our visit may have motivated her to work even harder. We told her about the garden area, that they could both sit in when she finally made it home. Truth is, she may never make it home, but she was given something yesterday that is very powerful, and that is hope.
Today, I took my mom to the movies. The plan was to see Frozen 2, since that is what she wanted to see. She likes animated movies, because the bright colors stand out. She doesn't see very well at all anymore, so bright colors are a big deal. When we got to the theater, I misread the times, and it would have been an hour wait to see it, so we went for the second choice, and that was A Beautiful Day In the Neighborhood. The Mr. Rogers movie. It wan't what I expected it. I thought it was going to be all about Fred Rogers, but it was more about his interaction with one writer. This writer was sent to do an interview of Mr. Rogers for a small piece in their heroes addition. He didn't want to go, and he had some troubled relationships, but through the process of interviewing Mr. Rogers, he s tarts to see a different view point. He is skeptical at first, but soon realizes that Mr. Rogers is for real. He is flawed like all of us, but it is how he addresses those flaws that makes him the best of humans. By simply listening to people you learn, and through learning there is understanding. When people have an opportunity to tell their story, they feel better. They lift pressure from the weight on their own shoulders.
Through that understanding and interaction you can learn gratitude, and through that you can change, well if not the world, the world around you. That change will ripple out like a pebble in a puddle. Right now the world feels like it is approaching a breaking point, and it is because we are doing a whole lot of talking, and very little listening. Less gratitude and more frustration. That frustration brews hatred, and we need to avoid that.
Gratitude is something that I've actually been working on, with my practice of meditation. I did my 7 day update on the 100 days yesterday, and that is one of the things I pointed out. Meditation is changing me for the better, and gratitude is a big part of that. It's something I never really put any thought into. I never felt like I had a reason to specifically thing of what I was grateful for, and through this practice, I am doing that. Here is the thing that was most surprising about it all. Through this practice of gratitude, I actually feel better. I have been meditating each morning for 20 minutes and during that a portion of it is spent on gratitude, and it puts a smile on my face. Tonight is the first time I'm trying meditating at night. I wanted to switch it up to see which one is a better fit for me. I really enjoyed doing it first thing in the morning. I set my mood for the day, and how can you argue with starting each day with a smile. I will see what happens tonight and see if I like it as much.
Before I wrapt his up, and I will be finishing on a point about gratitude and understanding, I wanted to get to Favorite Thing of the Week. This is a video that I just watched before writing this, and it is pretty amazing. It also fits in with interaction and gratitude. Yes, that may be a stretch when you watch the video, but if you really think about it, it is all within the circle of what I'm talking about. The creator is Jared Dines, and he sees it a little different than I do. He sees this as people creating without ever being in contact with each other, but what it really is, is people coming together that probably never would and creating something incredible. Here is what he did. He put up a post on social media telling everyone he wanted them to create music with a tempo of 180 and a key of A minor. Those were the only stipulations. He then took all the videos and simply put them together on the timestamp to see what would happen. His fear was that it would be a mess, what actually happened was far different. Watch the video to find out just how incredible this is.
Now, here is what I want you to do. Thanksgiving is this Thursday, and a lot can happen when family comes together, and many times it doesn't end well. I want you to be the one that listens. Set yourself aside and listen to what each person is telling you, then look for the small kernel of gratitude that comes from that moment. Then I want you to make a list in your head right before falling asleep. List 5 things that happened during the day that you were grateful for. It could be the simplest of things. You were grateful for the cranberry sauce, the turkey, the football game, anything. No single thing is trivial if you are truly grateful for it. By the time you get to that fifth item, I promise you, there will be a smile on your face. That is a pretty spectacular way to end a day. No image starting each day that way. You could change the world. Peace in and goodnight.
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