Read any good books lately?

Have you read any good books lately? Seriously. That might sound like an odd question here, but books can be powerful tools! It might be a book you read that will inspire you to change the world. If you don't read much, you should try it. You will find amazing things!

I book can bring you a lot of information too. If you love cooking or building or designing or any number of hobbies, books can be of great help. They can show you how to do things and even give you ideas of things you might never have thought of.

How about a nice adventure story or trashy romance novel or a suspenseful murder mystery? The fiction on your bookshelves can transport you to just about anywhere. Want to learn a new hobby or explore history? There are all kinds of non-fiction options. Having a tense day? Perhaps a book of poetry can help soothe things. How about a volume of jokes and riddles? Maybe what you need is just a nice coffee table book filled with great photographs.

If your home is without much of a literary selection, surely there is a library not too far away. If you're lucky, there might even be a nice little bookstore with selections that not only might bring you joy, some titles you might bring home for others too. After all, the joy of books is good to share. Books make good presents too!

when someone needs you

This has been a tough week for me and the week ahead will be even tougher. I could easily tell you why, but this blog is NOT about me. It really is about all of us and how we can all make a difference. So, in that spirit, I'd like to share one of those anonymous stories that has been floating around the internet. The story is not about anyone I know and I don't even know the author. I do know the point of the story though. The next time someone needs you, just be there. Read on -

A nurse took the tired, anxious serviceman to the bedside. “Your son is here,” she said to the old man. She had to repeat the words several times before the patient’s eyes opened.

Heavily sedated because of the pain of his heart attack, he dimly saw the young uniformed Marine standing outside the oxygen tent. He reached out his hand. The Marine wrapped his toughened fingers around the old man’s limp ones, squeezing a message of love and encouragement.

The nurse brought a chair so that the Marine could sit beside the bed. All through the night the young Marine sat there in the poorly lighted ward, holding the old man’s hand and offering him words of love and strength. Occasionally, the nurse suggested that the Marine move away and rest awhile. He refused.

Whenever the nurse came into the ward, the Marine was oblivious of her and of the night noises of the hospital - the clanking of the oxygen tank, the laughter of the night staff members exchanging greetings, the cries and moans of the other patients. Now and then she heard him say a few gentle words. The dying man said nothing, only held tightly to his son all through the night.

Along towards dawn, the old man died. The Marine released the now lifeless hand he had been holding and went to tell the nurse. While she did what she had to do, he waited.

Finally, she returned. She started to offer words of sympathy, but the Marine interrupted her, “Who was that man?” he asked.

The nurse was startled, “He was your father,” she answered.

“No, he wasn’t,” the Marine replied. “I never saw him before in my life.”

“Then why didn’t you say something when I took you to him?”

“I knew right away there had been a mistake, but I also knew he needed his son, and his son just wasn’t here. When I realized that he was too sick to tell whether or not I was his son, knowing how much he needed me, I stayed. I came here tonight to find a Mr. William Grey. His Son was killed in Iraq today, and I was sent to inform him. What was this Gentleman’s Name?“

The nurse with tears in her eyes answered, “Mr. William Grey."

What are you wearing?

Do people ever begin a conversation with you because of your clothing? Yesterday I was wearing a t-shirt from one of my favorite organizations, Go Inspire Go. I've written here about them before, but I never tire of telling about them because they pretty much do what I do - encourage folks to make a difference. Their founder Toan Lam (pictured here wearing a shirt like the one I had on yesterday), inspires me every single day with his posts on the Go Inspire Go website and on social media.

Every year I participate in various fundraising events and generally there are special shirts or jackets, which I enjoy wearing because it gives attention to the event, and it gives me a great opportunity to billboard the organization. I have a Light the Night jacket from several years ago that I always wear around the time of that event each year and when I am out trying to raise sponsors. I suppose we all do the same thing to some degree when we wear shirts from our schools or favorite teams.

I love telling people about some of my favorite charities though and it was great yesterday when a total stranger pointed to my shirt and said "What's gig"? After a few minutes of talking about Go Inspire Go, I suggested he watch some of their videos and I directed him to http://goinspirego.com/ - you should check it out too, if you don't already know about them.

last request

Do you ever read the obituaries in the newspaper? Sometimes they can be humorous and sometimes they simply gave details of someone's life. Lately though I have come across several that are very inspiring, not just because of the life that had been led, but because of a last request.  There was a wonderful obituary a newspaper last week that brought me to tears.  A brother wrote some very touching words about his sister who had lived with cerebral palsy.  "I wish I could have made you laugh one more time," he wrote.

Frequently in obituaries there will be a "in lieu of flowers" statement, that directs folks to a charity that is significant to the deceased.  I also have seen some very nice "last requests."  In telling of one man who had recently passed away, the obituary said that one of his last wishes was for any person reading the obituary to perform a good deed in his honor for someone that they may have had friction with or disliked. Wow! Someone wanted to continue the love even after they were gone. How wonderful. How many people did a good deed in his honor? There is of course no way to know, but what a wonderful idea!

Maybe this will inspire folks reading this to make other last requests. What would you want your legacy to be? How would you like to be an inspiration to strangers, even after you are gone?  Of course, estate planning is another way to help those who come after you while also keeping your name alive.

nothing

Every morning I sit down and write something here.

Does anyone read these words? Seriously. It would be nice to have a comment or two occasionally. Right down at the bottom you can give me your thoughts.

I've been especially thinking about this lately as I write here about hate.  We really need to end it.  I'm sure at least someone out there agrees.

I was originally going to write absolutely nothing this morning.

Nothing would mean no blog entry for this date. It might not even be noticeable.

Instead I wrote this little something about writing nothing.

Remember how Seinfeld was supposedly a show about nothing? Well today my blog is about nothing. (Except that it really is. It's a request for you to comment).

Oh and please feel free to share this with your friends too!

You brighten up my day

The glow of the sun, up in the sky, seems to spread joy to most of us. It can even make you sing! I was thinking back to that wonderful hit song by the Bee Gees:

Good morning mister sunshine,
you brighten up my day.
Come sit beside me in your way.

Of course that isn't the only mention of the sun in song. John Denver had a hit too, which really describes that feeling:

Sunshine on my shoulders makes me happy
Sunshine in my eyes can make me cry
Sunshine on the water looks so lovely
Sunshine almost always makes me high

Can you think of others? Perhaps the joy of a beautiful sunny day might inspire you to write your own song! It might be hard to top George Harrison’s wonderfully contemplative and also very comforting "Here Comes the Sun." Another favorite of mine is another Beatles tune, "Good Day Sunshine." I feel like writing a song, or at least singing along with someone else's. It's going to you a sunny day!

Kindness

Besides this blog, I write another one about kindness.  Go to https://ofbeingkind.blogspot.com/ to see that one.  Both are written seven days a week.  I've written 1,676 entries in the kindness blog since I began that back in 2016.  This one I began in 2009, so considerably more entries.  

It's NOT about me is a place where I try to write things that are inspiring.  Most of the entries here are either general in nature or are about specific people (heroes I like to call them) who are helping to make our world better.  If you are not a regular reader, I invite you to come back for more.  Tell your friends about this too!  This is not a place where I talk politics, share sports stories, or present my mouthwatering recipes.  The name is quite accurate, It's NOT about me.  

Oh, and both of these blogs could use some help by the way, especially that one about being kind.  I'm not an expert.  I try to be a kind person, but sometimes I just can't think of anything that is all that inspiring.  If you read that blog, would you kindly leave a comment or two as well?  Your thoughts could be very helpful.  

Together I really believe we can make this a kinder world!  We can never have too much kindness!