(Nicholasville, KY)
No, this is not the tree of life. but it was a good sunset.
As the sun sets on another day I talked to one of my good friends and considered the paths we make and how we build our tree of life. In “A Christmas Carol” Marley tells Scrooge that we forge the chains of our selfishness as we go through life. According to Dickens mankind should be our business and the common welfare of all our goal. In my opinion doing good builds our tree of life. Now, I am not one to say “bring in the communism and lets share it all”, but there are some things we can do each day to make our lives better and better the lives of others (In my opinion):
- Say hello to everyone you can, and mean it (Anything less is a waste of time, and “hello, how are you” is about like saying “I know you are there but I don’t care and was not listening anyway” Ask and listen, and if you do not have time, move on.)
- Treat people in the service industries better than anyone (Buy a policeman a lunch, when you sit down and eat, treat your waiter or waitress like a person, smile, and speak their name)
- Help the elderly (After I got my physical today I stopped and helped an elderly lady out of her car, to get her cane, and offered her my umbrella, yes I may be over the top, but you should do the same every opportunity you have)
- Be there for children (No I do not mean do everything they want, that is silly, instead help them learn and grow as you learn and grow. Sometimes you will have to steer and tack, but that is how life is, the rules change, help them understand such)
- Smile inside (If you are smiling inside, the world will know it. I have been guilty sometimes lately of not being myself, that will change not because the pain goes away, or the situation changes, but because I can rise above. You should too)
- Give to others as you can. (There are some people I would give my life for, and some I would not, but I will give as needed. Make sure you do right for yourself though, giving money to that person on the side of the road may not be the right gift. I was stopped by a man who said he was hungry once. I walked into a sub shop, got him a sub, and took it out to him, he threw it on the ground and said he wanted money, watch for those people you should help, and those that are just out for themselves. Another time I took a pizza to a homeless woman in Philadelphia, she cried and hugged me, these are the people who need you.)
This list is not all inclusive, (lol) it is just a start. We should all add to it each and every day. Got a story or a thought to add, send it to me at nomatterwhat@29000sunsets.com and I will try to add t sometime.
My point to today, we build a tree based on our lives, we branch out to so many people and in the end, we are at the root of it all. If we have strong roots we can weather any storm. If we prune or trim our tree, it can be either good or bad. Believe in yourself (It all starts at the core), believe in the ones you love (You see them as your world), believe in the ones who love you (They see you as their world and believe in you), and be happy.