on Milton...

I sent this story to my staff earlier this week, and I just can't seem to get it off of my mind, therefore, I thought I would blog it. Here is it...my Thanksgiving wish to you:

This morning, like every morning, I gave money to my homeless friend, Milton. I see Milton every weekday, and sometimes we chat, (if the stop light is red!). I have been giving money and food to Milton for nearly a year, and he has become part of my morning routine. Today Milton asked me if I was doing any cooking for Thanksgiving. I told him that I would be cooking a few items. He then asked me where I was going for Thanksgiving. I told him my Aunt and Uncle were hosting dinner. After our brief conversation, Milton asked me if I could bring him leftovers. I told him I would be happy to, but that my first day back, after the holiday, would not be until Monday. He said..."That's ok sweetheart, I will take them on Monday. Please be sure to put LOTS of gravy on the food!" At that the light changed to green, and I was on my way, leaving Milton looking forward to leftovers.

As I drove away, I was almost brought to tears. The excitement on Milton's face about the possibility of having leftovers from a home cooked meal. I began to think about the upcoming holiday, and how I will be seated around a table with about 34 other family members. My family ranges in age from my 91 year old Granny to a 4 week old cousin. Year after year, holiday after birthday, we get together in a warm, or cool home. We celebrate with fook, drink, and often times gifts. We laugh, we love, we are a wonderful family. While I thank God for my family, and all of my blessings quite often, I know there is still a part of my that takes my blessings for granted. I think of Milton, who will not celebrate with family, and may have to wait until Monday to receive some Thanksgiving leftovers, and I am humbled. God has been wonderful to me...I am truly blessed!

Today's activity:

BE THANKFUL! xo

on favorite word...

Have you ever noticed that you have a favorite word? A word that you tend to use a lot? A word that may have special meaning for you? A word that makes you smile? As I am growing older and wiser, I have discovered a word that I use A LOT, a word that has special meaning for me, and a word that makes me smile... =-) . My favorite word is: LOVE. I know I blogged about love not too long ago, but today I blog about it a little differently. Today I write about love as my favorite word in my vocabulary. I simply love the word LOVE! I am sure that I use it far too often; I love life, I love Diet Coke, I love the sun, I love the moon, I love the color periwinkle, I love my daughter, I love tulips, I love to smile, and I love to make people smile, I love my home, I love my bed, I love art, and the list goes on and on and on. I have also realized that when I meet someone new, and I just go about my normal language/conversation, I use the word love when talking. When I use the word love in conversation, people, new friends, tend to look at me a little oddly. I think they do, because I use the word love so freely in my life, while often other people tend to be more guarded when using these beautiful four letter word. Don't get me wrong, I don't feel as if I misuse the word, I just tend to love a lot of things in life, and I am not shy about sharing my love! Just a couple of weeks ago it hit me that my favorite word in life IS love. After spending a car ride to work thinking about whether or not this was appropriate, I decided it was perfectly fine that my favorite word is love. I mean, after all, I DO LOVE LIFE, and I do love to share love, so why wouldn't my favorite word be love?!?!? Love tends to show up everywhere in my life. For example, the shape of love is a heart, and I often times run across hearts in my world. I might randomly find a heart shaped piece of confetti in my path. Or just the other day I found a piece of my daughters hair, stuck to the side of the shower, in the shape of a heart. I was TOTALLY blown away. I like to have fun with my favorite word, and I love to see how when I am open to it, love pops up in a lot of places within my life. Just today, a dear friend of mine gave me a necklace with the work LOVE stamped three times on it...gotta love, love, LOVE it!

Today's activity: what is YOUR word

Today I encourage you to think about your life, the conversations you have with people, and your vocabulary. Is there a word, or two that tend to show up a lot in your life? Is there a word that you tend to use more frequently than any other. Does this word make you smile, and feel happy? Hopefully it does, and hopefully you can define it as YOUR word. What is your word, and why do you think it fits you? Does this word, or a symbol of it, mysteriously make its way into your life when you least expect it, or when you are not looking? Don't be fooled, if there is a word that pops into your world, and you think it is just randomly making an appearance, trust me...IT IS NOT! On the contrary, this is the Universe's way of telling you that this special word is YOURS. You need to own it, make it  yours, brand it, and LIVE IT! Open your eyes to your special word. Once you define what your word it, you will begin to see how it fits you, and how your word has always been there, waiting for you to embrace it. While this word may be just be letters to every other person in the world, this group of letters is YOU, so coin who you are...in just one word! xo