And I have to take a minute to interupt this post, BECAUSE speaking of wonderful people and the real friends who never judge, who accept and love.  I was thanking the wait staff for their hard work and dedication to us on many levels and made the mistake of leaving out a very very important person in our lives.  Sandi Shelton (www.sandishelton.com) just passed it off as nothing when I never mentioned her name. There you have it!  A true friend! And you know what she really meant it, I know it!  She is kind and real, the kind of friend we should all have.  So SANDI!  Public apology…….you are the last person I should have left out!!

It is quite amazing to me how small the world really is.  Each year we get a few more people who so graciously give their time and money to us.  Each year those people seem to walk away with a little more insight, a little more compassion for their fellow human being and a whole lot closer to those who they met during the evening.  The reason I know all this is because I get the best phone calls and emails giving me support and guidance from the new people at the event and from the people who have been there every single year.  Isn’t it great that we can all continue to learn from each other and more importantly grow from our experiences together and become better people

I am blessed in that way because I learn so much from my girls.  I know I say it a lot but this year especially has been an enlightening year for me.  Having lost so much personally and having had to overcome so many stumbling blocks. I guess also for having had to fight  on behalf of the girls.  It would be easy to become bitter and angry during any life changing events, and believe me it would be very EASY to become arrogant and cold having to fight for simple rights that others enjoy every day.   But I do not, and the reason I do not is because each and every day I witness true strength through my girls.  I watch two totally different human beings struggling for the same rights and the same desires to be accepted by everyone.

Sam is so rough at times and Alex just keeps it all in.  Instead of fighting them I have learned to see them for their unique qualitites and build a respect for each of their personal traits.  Do I always love what they do or say? NO!  Do I always agree on their way of getting things done?  NO!  But I have learned to respect their views and accept their ways. This can be applied to each of us in our own personal lives and if we could all learn to accept and respect all people for their true value it would make the world better.   I have lived humiliation through the girls eyes and felt first hand the lonliness from being tossed aside.  Why do we do this?  Why do we judge so much? Why do we have this picture of what people SHOULD be like?

I was watching a show with Matty yesterday on a kid channel. There were these two teenagers trying to “dump” one of their friends.  They plotted to lose him by finding a “nerd” to pawn off on him.  WHAT THE HECK!  Well, they found this over weight kid with pimples on his face and bad hair and tape on his glasses and very awkward.  I watched in horror as Matty witnessed the boys friends so carelessly arranged the handoff at the expense of the “friend” and the “nerd”.  Luckily I was able to say a few choice words to Matthew like, gee that doesn’t seem nice, AND  they don’t know that boy, they are really making a bad judgement about who he is and gee that boy could be a best friend to one of them.  What was that teaching a very young audience?  Ok am I now being overly sensitive?  I don’t think so.  This resinates to our every day life. This does happen each day in society.  We have to stop and think about how we treat each other and how our kids witness how we treat each other.

STOP, get off the rat race train!!!! Use kind words, understand the other persons struggles, look for each person’s value- because every single person has a value!  LOOK FOR IT!  Just beacause someone may not look like society tells us they should…….LOOK past that!!! Feel compassion for each other and understanding!  Connecting keeps you young and alive. We can each connect every day by some doing simple things; smiling, laughing, crying, human touch, listening, looking someone in the eye…….the list goes on.

More importantly realize that no matter what age we are we can still keep learning and don’t discount the value in learning from someone much younger!  You see a new perspective and feel the joy in their passion! I continue to learn from the girls and the wonderful friends they have, being surrounded by a younger perspective keeps you alive!

If you can’t be open minded to these wonderful joys of life and breathe in the miracles that life has to offer… reevaluate your life.  If you can’t feel the humility of someone being chastised from society rethink your values.  If you can’t stop and aline your priorities, if you can’t be open enough to listen and live your life with passion and kindness, then you should just lay down; because my friend, you are already dead!  Don’t die out……choose to live your life in the most positive way you can!

In Peace and love

Always

Mary