help

start small

~ onehopefulyear ~ Leave a comment

Apparently, it only takes four mixing bowls and thirteen ingredients to lift my mood.

Scoop. Measure. Weigh. Combine . Stir.

Ingredients I control. An outcome I can manage. Actions that make a difference.

This morning my husband came in from the cold, snow, and sleet to a warm house and muffins just out of the oven.

One thing I can do for the benefit of another.

An action – a tiny teaspoon – toward making someone’s world better.

Mood lifted, heart engaged, soul encouraged.

Yes. There is work to be done. Start small.

“I am only one, but I am one. I cannot do everything, but I can do something. And because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do the something that I can do.”
― Edward Everett Hale

what can I do in this day?

~ onehopefulyear ~ 6 Comments

What can I do in this day?

(A meditation.)

How can I do better? Be better? Feel better? What blessings have I forgotten to count? 

How can I be kinder? More compassionate? More empathetic?

How can I be a better listener?  Give more? Smile more? Friendly more?

Where am I needed? Who and how can I help? What’s my purpose?*

What can I do to live with more heart? More hope?

What can I do in this day to strengthen my body? My spirit? My faith?

How do I human -best- in this world? This world right here, right now. Especially right now.

What can I do in this day?

*Thanks to Linda Stoll for finding the word I was looking for.

promises to keep

~ onehopefulyear ~ 4 Comments

Never one to rush time, January, suddenly here you are. I, on the other hand, greet you today with much anticipation and the hope of hopes.

January, you are young, but wise. No doubt you’ve seen the beginning of this story before. You’re all new born, but not naïve.  Promises. Commitments. Fresh starts.

Still, you never quite know how the story ends, do you? Not for sure?  

I suppose that’s what hope is, after all. 

All evidence to the contrary, January, your year may end so much better than it began. Your year may hold a surprise … or twenty-two. 

Still, there is much work to be done. And I guess I don’t really need to make one more New Year’s resolution. Our weary world needs a promise. A pledge.  So January, here’s mine.

Hope, I’m certain, begins with helping.