This week I was doing some shopping.  One of the salesgirls made a rude comment to me while ringing up my sale. She seemed uncaring and distant.  I felt unappreciative of that undeserved comment and thought about what I should have answered back to her. 

      This department store is awesome.  I have been going there for years. There is a free gift wrap policy, no matter how little money you spend. I put my gifts on the counter to be wrapped and sat in one of ther comfortable chairs.  I then heard one of the managers talking about the girl who had been rude to me. They were saying they knew something was wrong with her, as she was shaking all over. My anger melted at that moment, as I began to wonder what could be wrong.  Had she just received some devastating news?   Was she in some kind of trouble or maybe she just found out she had a terrible illness? 

     My point is, we never know what is going on inside another person's mind. I used to work in a doctor's office. The doctor always told me when someone was grumpy or out of sorts, they were really afraid.  I am telling myself to be patient and kind in the midst of a troubling world and many personal hurts.   

 When editing my web sites, I rediscovered a wonderful web site.  It is Random Acts of Kindness at: htttp://www.actsofkindness.org/people/site.asp.  This site not only encourages kindness, it provides a free web site so that a teacher may share with the world a "kindness" project the children are doing. There are places to insert pictures, notes, etc.  It's all there for you. Maybe it could even be catching.  Wouldn't that be exciting?  Yes, I know I am just a never-give-up Pollyanna.

     Just let your mind go crazy and think about it for a minute. Think how just the flap of a butterfly in another country can affect us! One of my favorite site is http://www.care2.com.  I am a member of that site and they give me butterflies by my name when I help with one of the projects.  Here is a quote from that site in regard to the Butterfly Effect, which is derived from the Chaos Theory:

    
"The flap of a butterfly's wings in Brazil can set off a storm in Texas. Isn't that an amazing statement? Physicists call this theory "The Butterfly Effect" to explain how the breeze produced by a butterfly's wings could set of a series of reverberations that over time have a tremendous affect on weather patterns thousands of miles away. Now imagine the impact of millions of butterflies..."

Fran

 

     Thanksgiving makes me think of Oprah.  She is  mostly responsible for teaching us to keep a journal amd write down things that we are grateful for.  I'll admit, I don't keep a journal but I do keep a journal in my head. When thoughts come to me about some things going on in my life that I could do without, I quickly pull myself to the other end of the spectrum.  We all get frustrated and angry and that is human but we cn't let those thoughts lure us into a dark place.

     Please note my free lesson plan for November. Hope you enjoy teaching this as much as I loved writing about it!  I think this subject, gladness is life-changing for both children and adults.  Maybe we can all teach ourselves this valuable lesson. Web masters, feel free to use my free lesson as long as you link back.

     Parents, how would you like to take a four part online parenting class?  Christine McClung, author of "Epic Heroes, Dinnertalk for Champs" is offering  this gift to you.  We can all use some helpful ideas on parenting. Just select Epic Heroes to get  your free lessons.

     I would like to share my Thanksgiving family traditions and recipes with you for Thanksgiving.  Also, I can suggest some helpful ideas about preparations that you can do a few days before Thanksgiving if you are hosting Thanksgiving Dinner and/or having guests also.

    It's all in my November's Thanksgiving Good Character Press Newsletter.  Just click on the navigation link on your left or select http://www.goodcharacterpress.com/id43.html.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Fran