Kindness in the Car

In some places, driving has become a competitive sport of sorts involving much tension, aggression, and anxiety - even in places where traffic is not a problem.  Perhaps tapping into some primeval instinct to be first, to conquer, many people don't even want another car to get in front of them.
   If you want to become a nicer person, start with your driving.  Let people in ahead of you (not so many though that the drivers behind you become angry), quash the aggression that causes you to go faster and faster and feel that you must be first. 
   When you need to get into the next lane, don't speed up and try to get in front of the car that is already 2 lengths ahead of you.  Get behind that car.  (I don't know why people always try to speed ahead here in D.C. to get into the next lane when there's plenty of space behind the car).

   If you can be a gracious driver, it will improve your day!

My husband did a wonderful thing for Mother's Day. He sent me flowers and a box of candy from our two cats, Cluny and Cuervo, with a "thank you" for all I do for them. It was very special since it was very unexpected and something that I didn't even think he thought about. By the way, the flowers are still here, but the chocolates are gone! 

Send something special and very unexpected to someone special in your life. The feeling it will give that person is tremendous!

Graciousness

By way of Hybrie Morgan (I don't know the original):
 

 Two things determine success in life:

The way you manage when you have nothing.

The way you behave when you have everything.

          I believe true graciousness is behaving the same in both instances.

Eat Some Chocolate: It Does You Good!

Do something nice for yourself today: Eat some dark chocolate.  Get a bar of dark chocolate from your local Whole Foods or Trader Joe's - try for the highest cocoa content you can get, or you can even get a Hershey's Special Dark chocolate bar.  Eat it with your green tea or coffee, and enjoy the wonderful aroma of chocolate and the extra rush of endorphins it gives you! 

 While you do want to take in account the calories and amount of fat and sugar if you are on a strict diet, dark chocolate is actually very good for you. A report in The Journal of the American Medical Association reports that dark chocolate (most emphatically NOT milk or white chocolate) can lower your mild high blood pressure. Also, dark chocolate has antioxidants, and antioxidants "gobble up free radicals, destructive molecules that are implicated in heart disease and other ailments"(webmd.com). It has been shown to help harden tooth enamel. And since it has a low glycemic index, it won't cause your blood sugar to spike.

  Just remember: NEVER eat your dark chocolate while drinking milk as it will cancel out the good effects.

Do You Want To Cure Procrastination Problems?

The greatest thief of time is procrastination; it steals away the time you need for important things and in return gives you time that you don't really enjoy because you know you should be doing something else.

I am a procrastinator, and like most procrastinators, I had excuses, such as, "I work better under pressure."  Of course, I really did believe this for a while, but it simply isn't true.  Most of us work better when we have time to take time and do a job correctly - and that may mean time to redo.

I've left the excuses behind, but I still have to fight an almost daily battle against procrastination in many areas of my life (not work, thank goodness!).

Here are some coping strategies:

• If you procrastinate about cleaning, try to reduce clutter and clean as you go; never put dishes in the sink, they go straight to the dishwasher, clothes go straight into the hamper, or even into the washer, magazines go into the trash right after you've finished reading (or clipping, if you do that).

• If you procrastinate about bill-paying, do it online.  I used to dread those monthly sessions, opening bills packed full of advertising that filled a trash can, writing checks, addressing envelopes, and making sure I had stamps.  Save time and pay bills online by either going to each site individually and paying (my preferred method for credit card payments) and paying utilities online through your checking account.  The time saved is considerable, plus if you go paper-free, you save a mountain of trees in paper!

• Do you procrastinate at work?  Get a work buddy if possible and keep tabs on each other about finishing work.  If your work is solitary, look at what is interfering - do you spend too much time talking and visiting, flirting with the cute guy in Accounting, planning lunch, or doing personal business (or games) online? Either go in early and do work before others get there or stay to yourself. Plan tomorrow's lunch the afternoon before after you've done your tasks for the day. If you do personal business online, remember that with most companies or institutions, nothing that you do on your office computer is actually personal; it can all be traced.  If you have games on your computer, have them taken off!

Just changing one of these can get you started on a more disciplined path that can result in actually having more time to have fun!

Rejoice

Tonight a full moon shines over the city where I live. It is a reminder of everything that is beautiful in this world.  Go outside, look at the moon, and rejoice that you are alive in this moment.

Remember...

To be nice to yourself; we all do things we wish that we hadn't and have regrets, but each regret that you have is replacing what could otherwise be a moment of happiness.  If you can say you're sorry, do so; if what you did can't be addressed by talking to someone, then let it go, and every time you think about the misdeed, say to yourself, "Let it go."  Remember something that you did well instead or concentrate on doing something good in the present.

Words To Live By

Before you speak, ask yourself, is it kind,
is it necessary, is it true, does it improve
on the silence?
-Sai Baba

It was when I was staying in Madras/Chennai in 1999 that I first heard of Sai Baba; there was a temple across from the compound where my son lived. These words are his best.

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How Do You Live?

Don't associate with lowly qualities.

Don't consort with heedlessness.

Don't associate with wrong views.

Don't busy yourself with the world.

Get up! Don't be heedless.

Live the Dhamma well.*

One who lives the Dhamma

sleeps with ease

in this world & the next.

*It's an oversimplification to say "Truth" for Dharma, but it would work here for the understanding of those unfamiliar with Buddhist thought.

-Dhammapada, 13, translation by Thanissaro Bhikkhu.

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