It’s the Right Time to be Kind
(or what I hope this Christmas will bring you)
🎄 Well Hello there. Have I been neglecting you my readers, or no? My last personal blog post was from the 23rd of September, so yeah… I thought to be back in a couple of weeks, but weeks turned into months and here we are, nearing the end of 2021. Fast. To be honest, it doesn’t even feel like months, pandemic time seems to rush even harder than it normally does. Covid seems like a relay-run sometimes and we’re just waiting for the next variant to take over. But I couldn’t leave this year without a note to y’all, so let’s go.
🎄 I sure hope you’ve all been doing well, times haven’t been easy and it seems we’re not there yet. So we’re entering the third pandemic year and we still have to hold on. I might not have been publishing much, except for the Spotlights if you’ve been following that section, but the blog has been running pretty well anyways. Of course I’m very grateful for that and for all you who kept reading. I’m still so very amazed as to how far the blog has come, including the literal sense of the word…like, globally: 82 countries have been covered this year (total 84) against the 70 from last year. Can’t really complain about that.
🎄 Going at it with my whole heart, I had to slow down at one point. Those of you who know me a little, are already aware I tend to run, run, run, till I can run no more and have to make an almost full stop. Am I trying to change? Yeah, sure, but it’s also just who I am and to not completely lose the joy I started out with, I decided to concentrate on the Spotlight side for a while. So not a real full stop there – progress somehow – but I was taking it a lot easier. A LOT easier. But enough of that.
🎄 The past months have been filled with thoughts and not all of them were always happy. But that’s life and I can only guess as how you got through it. Much has happened and in a way, nothing really changed. An absolute positive thing, is that our girl is back here with her fam, so we have the joy of watching our grandson grow. A privilege that is. So do I feel different as a grandma? Yes and no. Yes: because our daily routine has been altered for real – but we’re not complaining. No: because we’re still the same people and the actual responsibility is not ours. Though of course we do feel responsible for coaching the little one through life winning. Can’t start early enough right?
🎄 Other than that I have been kind of busy with ‘building’ relationships – for as far as possible – with my new online friends. More are added everyday and it’s nice to see and experience there are still a lot of really nice people out there. People might go on about how things online aren’t real, but to me, a lot of relationships in real life aren’t that real either. So what’s the difference? You can trust people for years and they still might not just let you down – which will happen because we’re just human – no, they might actually hurt you on purpose. So yeah, you either trust someone or you don’t in my opinion. Gotta start somewhere.
🎄 If anything, the last year made it clear we need each other. If this doesn’t apply to you, well, I’m both happy and sorry for you. Happy you’re fine on your own, sorry you might miss out on great stuff other people could bring to your life. Maybe even what you can add to their lives. The very fact most people are tired of all restrictions – which seem to have gone back to where we started – and fail to act upon them, shows how much most of us long for human interaction. I know, most of it is probably purely because of selfish reasons and I’m certainly not saying I condone that, but I do understand. We’re just not build to be alone and isolated for long periods of time.
🎄 Apart from wishing to catch up – for real – with friends/family whom you haven’t been able to see for so long, just a simple day out has been out of reach for too long and has been cramping our very sense of freedom. Freedom. Most of us are just so used to go about our ways aren’t we? To go when and where ever we want to. This whole period has thrown us back to what’s really important in life. Getting confronted by everything we’ve been taking for granted. Life is full of unexpected changes and thus the opportunity to conquer new – unknown? – territory. Have you seized it yet?
🎄 Limited by our movement, resources and otherwise normal, human interaction, we have to actually THINK about how to fill another day without going slightly mental. Especially since the situation is lingering far longer than we hoped it would. Weariness set in some time ago, carrying the ability to make us less alert and more vulnerable. We need each other to keep a grip on some sort of sanity, if only by simple words of encouragement every now and then. And you all know, I’m all for encouragement. It’s such a powerful tool and highly underestimated most of the time.
🎄 I know my words of encouragement have brought some light – and hopefully life – to a lot of people. There’s nothing better than having the same encouragement coming back to me at times. Reap what you sow you know? I hope you do. And yes, there are also times I’ll fall quiet, rethinking stuff, recharging and finding new inspiration. How interesting it is, we can actually get this from simply talking to other people too! Better yet, after some ‘quiet time’ I’m most happy to find out others have been experiencing the exact same thing and we reconnect even better than before.
🎄 (Re-)Connecting is key. I’ll be the first to admit I’m not always very good at it. Getting to know one is one thing, staying connected is a whole other animal and – to my shame, but fortunately I’ve found I’m not the only one – I’m not particularly excelling in that department. Luckily there are enough people who will just take the first step – again lol – and strike up a new conversation with me. They know I’m always at the ready for a chat. Sometimes for a simple catch up, other times for pretty serious stuff. Y’all most likely have noticed – because I did share – how I (un)intentionally ended up being a ‘mom’ to many. It’s what has been foretold would happen and in a way I’m proud – the good kind of proud mind you – I can be ‘there’ for them.
🎄 And yes, it has taken up a lot of my time and has occupied my thoughts. Though I aim not to worry, concern is not far away with all that goes on ‘around’ me. We all just try to keep on going on despite all the limitations we’re dealing with. For some it’s not all that hard, but for those who were already in a precarious situation to begin with, these times can be mentally unbearable. It’s tough we can’t actually ‘be there’ and hug that one person close, to express our sentiment and feeling for them, no, we mostly have to make our words count. Words have always been way more important than we were inclined to believe, but today… you do realize there is LIFE in what you speak right?
🎄 You probably know what a few words of sincere encouragement can do to your soul, paying it forward to someone else can make all the difference. You might belittle it, think it’s nothing special, you might not even witness the effects – at first, or ever – but again, just think about what a couple of kind words have meant to you in the past. Words can destroy, but they can also rebuild what’s been broken and this time of the year, a lot of words will be spoken. The usual niceties and ‘wishes’ are thrown around with ease and, dare I say, sometimes without meaning. I try to refrain from it as much as possible, but it’s hard without unintentionally hurting someone’s feelings.
🎄 I recently read somewhere that kindness has the power to dissolve any damage done by mistreatment and there’s truth in there. Kindness heals. Kindness costs us nothing but effort and though that may sound easy, it’s not. But we can all do it, aim for it, act on it, be it. The effort lies in making time, thinking before we speak, don’t let our fears get in the way of expressing our feelings towards another – the good ones I mean. I know it’s often so much easier to utter our grievances and disagreement, but being kind doesn’t come that naturally. At least not all the time, not to me anyways. But we all benefit from kindness. Seeing how any kind word has been received around me, it’s clear to me there’s a massive need for it.
🎄 Again, I love to be on the receiving end as much as the next person. It definitely feeds my soul and sooths when times get rough. If ever self doubt had free reign, it has been lately. I mean, too much thinking can lead to too much self analyzing, overthinking really. And like I recently shared: ‘Perfectionism is the pain in my flawed butt’. Wanting to keep the perfect schedule, writing the perfect article…all self inflicted lol, but still. Sometimes I need to calm the heck down and be kind to, ME. Apparently I’ve become an essential part – or so they say, I’m yet to be convinced – in the Disco community and with it came a lot of new friends, new opportunities and new Spotlights and inevitably, new responsibilities. To be honest, time flew by because of it.
🎄 And so I was reaching the end of 2021, more than a bit surprised with myself I didn’t feel the need to write another – personal – article. Just a couple of weeks ago we were able to have our son and daughter in law over for a midweek and it was soo good to see them again, it really had been too long. I basically used every kind of ‘excuse’ to not write. I know, I didn’t really need one, but still. However, slowly it started to come back to me and after my last knitting frenzy hit me – during which I definitely didn’t feel the need to write – I knew I couldn’t leave this year without having this out in the open. Christmas, or rather the whole Holiday Season, is the time to reflect, to look back and also, to look forward.
🎄 Did I want to leave the blog unused? Did I want to stop? What would be the next step? No, writing is in my blood and so is encouraging people. Reaching out is what I am called to do and this is still a great way to do so. My original schedule – publishing every Thursday – might not be working anymore, but I’m not letting this go while it’s truly reaching people in places I could not have imagined it would. I’m not sure as to what the next step for the blog will be, but I will keep on writing in 2022. If only to let out my thoughts and yes, frustrations sometimes lol. I hope I can keep you intrigued enough to keep reading.
🎄 So here I am, writing on this – quite miserable, referring to the weather – Christmas day. We’re having a couple of lazy days and though you may think writing to you is not being lazy at all, I’m truly relaxed and words are flowing, as they should be. This Christmas I hope you’ve encountered kindness and you’re ready to share some kindness, it doesn’t have to be a big thing but needed all the same. I hope you will have a great Christmas, though it might not be easy on everyone, I still wish you the best. If times are tough for you right now, I hope things will get better soon, I hope someone will bestow some kindness upon you, so you can find some peace with whatever is going on in your life.
🎄 Everything happens for a reason they say – and I strongly believe it to be true – which can be hard to accept when things are bad, I’m hoping you can say they actually were, afterwards. Because those things are only clear after they’ve passed unfortunately. I’m sending you a virtual hug and want to let you know, there is always someone thinking about you, even from a long distance. I hope this will comfort you a little, because as much as I would love to be able to do more, I have to make my words count for now. Being nice is not enough, try being kind. It’s the right time to be kind. Today.
Hope y’all are enjoying a Kind Christmas, thank you for reading and see ya next year! ❤
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