From Tara...not sure what to title it..lol

Today, make the effort to live life with a positive outlook. Restrain from criticizing the people around you. Dare to see the glass half full. Listen more than you speak. Give freely of yourself. Practice kindness at every opportunity.

Wow. That's a lot. In the last couple of years, I truly have begun to live life with a more positive outlook, and it has freed me from stress I didn't know I was carrying. Criticizing people...well, that is a weakness with me sometimes. Never my friends, but I do sometimes snap to judgement with strangers. Sooo.....in this challenge, I have begun to befriend a lady that lives next door to me.

She is older than I am but very sweet and somewhat ill (she fell this winter and hurt herself pretty badly, and also has another chronic ailment). She is also beginning to recover from a lifetime of suppressed emotions due to a series of very tragic events. And I get the feeling she is very, very lonely. Her husband is a doctor at the local hospital and works long hours. Even though she is not someone I would choose to befriend, I have "given freely of myself" and truly tried to practice kindness. And I find myself enjoy each visit more and more. It is hard to listen to her stories sometimes, because I hate to see people hurting, but I know it helps. Sometimes we just drink tea and watch our dogs play, sometimes we actually go places. It is a bit straining sometimes, because she calls quite often, but I just remind myself that it makes her so happy when we "hang out". I do sometimes ignore her calls, but I'm trying to be more patient. Which has never been one of my qualities.

And listening more than I speak is something I've been trying to do for a while. It's a long journey. I remember that I received an evaluation at work once that said I talk more than I listened, and I was furious about that! I thought it was completely untrue and totally made up until I came home and started complaining about it to Brandon. And he shocked me by saying, "Well, I'm not trying to make you angry, but you do that to me sometimes. When I'm talking to you, I don't think you're listening. You just seem to be thinking of what you'll say next." It was an eye opener. So ever since then, I've been much more aware of trying to listen. It's a true talent, those natural listeners. I sometimes have to literally tell myself, "Don't speak. Listen. Just listen."

This is a long post, sorry. And I know I'm not quite on schedule, but I've missed a few days being ill. I hope it's okay if I just post the ones I think I'm on? If not, lol, someone tell me what day we're on!