A simple touch of kindness

[Image credit: chrisroll]

During Yoga practice and the spine strengthening series, yogis rest on their stomachs in between poses.  At that time, some of the instructors will “walk” on any eager feet.  The last time I was the recipient of this brief exchange, I was thankful for the willingness of my teacher to freely offer the gift of touch to her students.  During that moment of meditation, I felt a strong appreciation and wondered how many others in my life crave such a simple act of affection.  It seems we are more concerned about crossing over boundaries or insulting so we keep our distance.  That’s not what I want to be remembered for.  I would rather be thought of as the person who stepped outside her comfort zone and embraced a fellow mother, daughter, brother … human being.  Perhaps we’d be a lot happier if we didn’t worry so much about whom we offend, but instead care about those we friend.

Do you regularly show others kindness through a simple touch?

When one door closes

[Image credit: nattavut]

When one door closes another door opens, but we so often look
so long and so regretfully upon the closed door,
that we do not see the ones which open for us.
~ Alexander Graham Bell

I’ve been looking forward to this evening all week.  Although I’ll be saying goodbye to a dear friend — someone who has played an integral role in my life over the past eight years — later on I’ll be saying hello to a new friend who I actually met through the first lady.  Thanks to social media, it will be easy to remain in touch with my cross-country friend so that door will never be completely closed.  And as for my new friend, I’m excited for a girls’ weekend getaway.  I wish that gaining one relationship didn’t mean losing the other, but I think that concept proves true with many of life’s bittersweet moments.  Perhaps it’s all about forfeiting one dream to gain something even better … in time.

Which door do you see?

Treasuring the memories

[Image credit: Stoonn]

When someone you love becomes a memory,
the memory becomes a treasure. ~Author Unknown

Nearly two weeks ago, I lost a friendship during an impasse.  After speaking with a couple of close relations to get their take on the situation, I couldn’t help but question if the two of us had truly been friends from the start.  If the correct definition of friendship (according to ezinearticles.com) is “a personal relationship shared between each friend for the welfare of [the] other … [a] relationship of trust, faith and concern for each other’s feelings,” then we both miserably failed the other.  With that said, the act of saying goodbye just may have been the ultimate demonstration of friendship.  However, I still plan to treasure the times when our actions spoke louder than words, more closely resembling the above definition.  But at the same time, I’ll file anything else in the live-and-learn archives.  And the friendships that remain will be the ones I invest in.

Do you have at least one treasure you’ll always guard in your memory?