Mikaela

>"Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a
>smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest
>compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which
>have the potential to turn a life around."
>
>- Leo F. Buscaglia
>
>
>"I had found a kind of serenity, a new maturity... I
>didn't feel better or stronger than anyone else, but it
>seemed no longer important whether everyone loved me or
>not--more important now was for me to love them.
>Feeling that way turns your whole life around; living
>becomes the act of giving."
>
>- Beverly Sills
>
>
>"When one begins to purposefully perform acts of
>kindness, the spirit changes, and soon doing good deeds
>becomes a focal point for our life; doing good begins
>to be the same as feeling good. The periods of
>emptiness when we search for the "meaning of it all"
>begin to fill with acts of kindness."
>
>- Gary Ryan Blair

(an excerpt from Veronica Hay's article)
We never know what is in another person's heart.
>What level of pain they may be going through. And in
>some cases, the pain may be so great that living no
>longer seems an option to them.
>
>We may never know the sometimes immense consequences
>upon another, of an unkind word, a thoughtless deed, or
>a hasty decision made from an unexamined heart.
>
>Each day, everyone of us, has a new opportunity to make
>a huge difference in this world. If I had one dream for
>humanity, it would be that tomorrow morning we would
>all wake up with amnesia. We would then see the world
>for the first time, with new eyes, the way a new born
>baby sees it, except that we would be in a grown up
>body.
>
>We would have no conception of what was considered
>beautiful or good or important according to society's
>ridiculous standard of worth. Everything and everyone
>would be a blessed opportunity for us, just the way
>they are.
>
>Life would be waiting with another possibility to be
>all that we could be. Another opportunity to practice
>the gift of kindness in every moment. Another chance to
>rise above our mere mortal existence and for that one
>grand moment in time to walk among the gods. Another
>day to love.
>
>Copyright 2006 by Veronica Hay.