Coloring outside of the lines

I don't know about you, but I have always liked to color!  It didn't matter if it was with crayons, or those cool colored pencils.  I was very glad when they started making wonderful coloring books with really intricate designs, but by that time, I had gone from coloring in the lines to coloring outside of them.  Sometimes there just isn't enough room in a shape to put that one color.  It changes things when you extend the color.  I guess it is like being in the box.  Maybe that is a good thing, not so much for me.  All I am saying is that it is probably good to color outside of the lines sometimes, just to see what else we can create.  Make a ripple, purchase crayons, see what happens.

Kind people rule!

As you may know, if you read some of these blogs, I love to give attention to the people who go the extra mile to be good humans.  Lately, even with all the chaos in the world and mistreatment of so many, it seems as if I am running into so many more kind and thoughtful people than I used to.  Or, maybe I am more acutely aware of this happening.  Certainly, this blog was meant to make us all more aware of who we are and all the ways we can contribute to a better world.  I know we are making a difference because I can see and feel it. It is called the "ripple effect!"  So, thank you for making my world better.  Know this is becoming evident, and we are all to be held in gratitude for making this effort. Make a ripple, feel the love, see what happens.

Get out of your own way

We all end up, at one time or another, at an impasse.  It is easy to blame others, and situations for this happening.  What I am learning is that many times, it is me who is blocking the path.  It might be an old memory, or a habit I need to break, or even just what I expect of myself.  Whatever it is, I have the choice to look at it carefully and see if it is me putting up roadblocks.  I, for one, try to change others at times.  Maybe it is time to use that energy to make some changes of my own, since I am the only one I can change, anyway.  Make a ripple, be the example, see what happens.

Define this!

I love the dictionary.  When I was younger, I would sometimes just sit and read it.  Words are so cool!  Yikes! Geek!  But one of the words I just looked up for the umpteenth time is "COMPROMISE." Com pro mise, a settlement of differences by mutual concessions; an agreement reached by adjustment of conflicting or opposing claims, principles, by reciprocal modification of demands.   Hmmmmm  Another way of sometimes putting this is the removal of inflated egos.  Guess that is my definition.  Our government is like a bunch of 3 year olds, still in diapers and fighting over a binky.  I don't know if it is like that where you live, but I sincerely hope not.  All this dissension causes nothing but misery for everyone else and solves nothing.  Make a ripple, tell them to " grow up!" See what happens.

Yeah! Target

Here are some more great humans.  They will match the school supplies people buy up to $25 million dollars.  It is a sad state that kids can't even afford school supplies, but it is so great that someone is stepping up to make the school experience a good one for these kids.  They are making a ripple, and I salute them.

There is something bigger out there than you

Live for that!  We all have the tendency to live our lives in our own little world.  What I am seeing, is there is so much more out there and we have a hand in changing it.  It is a fact that we need to know and nurture ourselves in order to be able to put out the time and energy.  So, today, I am going to take a deep breath, and think about all the ways I can look at the bigger picture.  Make a ripple, do the same, see what happens.

Who are the immigrants?

I spent most of yesterday at a local POW WOW.  I go to as many as I can because they always renew my heart and spirit.  The ceremony, tradition and beauty take my breath away each time.  The drumming and singing fill my heart as nothing else can.  It also makes me remember that the people who owned this land first are the Native Americans.  We came here and pushed them around in a horrible fashion.  Sometimes I think we have a revisionist theory about how things were, and it would do us well to re-think our position.  Make a ripple, remember, see what happens.