December already?

Time sure does fly! I have been an absolute fail at blogging this year. Work, school, motherhood, and attempting a social life have kept me pretty busy. I am desperately hoping to find some balance and be here more often. I miss writing here and interacting with my readers.

Anyway, I want to say happy first of December to you all! While bustling around preparing for Christmas, I am trying to spread joy and kindness every day, not just the 25th. There is nothing quite like bringing a smile to a stranger's lips. After seeing some of the disgusting news reports about people behaving so terribly during Black Friday shopping, I realized we need more kindness in this world. I mean, I knew this, but that drove it home.

So, watch this video. It will give you the warm fuzzies and maybe bring a tear to your eye. I want to be one of these kind of people, not the ones snatching sale deals out of the hands of babes.


Have a blessed night, y'all!

Bad for Me

I have a hobby I very much enjoy. It's also a hobby that can be bad for me. It sucks when things you love are bad for you. This particular thing is a huge creative outlet, but it's on social media and it's just not always a positive thing. Sometimes I get so wrapped up in expectations there and just the ugly of it that it becomes toxic. I had cut back my time spent there drastically for months and regret getting sucked back in on some levels. Not all, because I have some amazing friends there. But, when a hobby starts to stress you out and you realize your judgement has turned to crap, it's time for a change.

The other thing on my mind is the whole paying it forward thing I wrote about recently. All the comments for my giveaway over on that post are making my heart soar. Kindness is so amazing. It blesses others and blesses you. I've been doing a few small things here and there the past little while and it's been so awesome! Being the reason someone smiles is a great feeling. You never know when a small act can turn around someone's whole day. Seeing what my readers have done for other people just gets me pumped with positivity. I am really loving hearing from you all about how you pass on kindness. 

So, the two things I discussed above got me to thinking and I have decided something. For the month of May, the hobby is shelved. I haven't told anyone this yet, well I'm telling y'all here and now. Anyone who truly needs to know it is going to see this post anyway. Anyway, if I want to write, there are a zillion different ways to do it. If I want to indulge in "me" time, which is what dabbling there always is, I can do roughly a thousand different things. Maybe my focus will switch to getting this blog fixed up the way I want it. Or finishing reading Battlefield of the Mind. Or the other books stacked on my nightstand. Maybe I'll exercise more. Who knows. All I know is the time I spent there is now time I hope to fill with positivity. Sometimes you've got to just do you and what's best for you. That's the idea I'm rolling with here. I'm embracing the positive! 

Ugliness, the kindness of strangers, blessings, and a giveaway

Last week was almost surreal. Maybe it seems that way because I'm still medicated, but maybe it really was as amazing as I think it was. I'm going with the amazing thing. Either way, it was a blessed week.

As those close to me know, my teeth are in truly terrible shape and have been for awhile now. It's so weird to go from never having a cavity until I was 21 to all of my teeth breaking and shattering by 35. Not only do they look so terrible that they make me have awful social anxiety, but they've started to make me pretty ill. At first it was just painful, what I assumed was normal for exposed nerve. But, then the infections starting coming along with high fever, swelling, and pain like I can't explain. The past year or so with them has been nightmarish and excruciating. With a low paying job and no dental insurance, it takes saving for months to make a dental appointment. 

On Monday night this all came to a head in a way I never saw coming. I was curled up in bed, tears flowing from yet one more excruciating abscess. My gum looked like it had a marble shoved under it, there was swelling, and nothing I took even made a dent in the pain. My son had apparently had enough. He took some pictures that had been taken a few weeks before, my intent was to send to local dentist seeing if I could get in with someone on a payment plan. Anyway, he took these pictures and did something so kind and thoughtful it took my breath away. Check it out here. The site took down the pics, basically calling them gruesome. Gruesome? They are in my mouth. Anyhow, my son was so concerned about my health, he put together this fundraiser thing. I was incredibly moved.

That on it's own would be a sweet story, but it gets better. People I had not seen in years donated to my cause. Strangers chipped in. Before I knew it there was over $200 put together, enough to at least get me into a dentist for xrays and a consultation. I was stoked! Tuesday rolled around and the abscess burst at work. I spent hours in the ER, getting antibiotics and pain meds for a massive infection. It seemed my son had put the fundraiser together just in time, my teeth had reached a critical level. The nurse at the hospital warned me multiple times that dental infections could get out of hand quite quickly and to be mindful. 

Some more donations have been made, making me hopeful for the first time in a long time. I am incredibly blessed by the generosity of others. The timing of it all, some have called it coincidence. Myself, I say God is good, so incredibly good. Really the kindness shown to me by so many has just left me in awe. Even $5 can help change a life and it means so much that people care so much. I'm still running fever, feeling that run down awful feeling you get with a fever, and am trying to rest a lot. But, my heart is overflowing with gratitude. 

So, a few friends blessed me with gift card this week. One to my favorite place to get shakes since I can barely eat sometimes, which I was thrilled with. Another was to Starbucks, a thank you for "pushing through and having a sweet spirit even when you are hurting" says the card. It did my heart good. All these blessings and kindness have me wanting to spread the love and kindness. This week is going to be all about random acts of kindness and paying it forward for me. It starts here and now, sort of. One of my winners will win this $20 Starbucks gift card. Sound good? Just use the Rafflecopter entry form below. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway