“Honey, I lost my…..”

If your spouse reports to you the loss of a wallet, credit card, or purse, what should be your first reaction?

Please don’t scold. Your spouse feels bad enough already. Be kind, thoughtful, and helpful. No one is going to lose something valuable on purpose, so why should you make him or her feel worse by your criticism?

This advice is important, I promise you. So, does this also apply for a child who spills his drink, or drops something because he or she is still clumsy? Are you going to get irritated? Or are you going to make your child feel that it is not a big deal and he or she simply needs to clean up? And, please be kind and help clean the mess.

Life is full of these little scenarios and depending on how we react to them, we will deepen our relationship with someone else or distance ourselves from that person. We have an opportunity to initiate a trust relationship with a child and help this boy or girl be proud and respectful of themselves. If not, we risk making a child feel that they are worthless.

We may not always realize it but we do have the power.

Living for the sake of others takes many forms

Today I want to relate the story of two nurses who work at the chemotherapy/infusion center near the Community Hospital of my town. Their names, it took me six chemo sessions to finally remember their names.
They don’t look alike; they are not twins by any means. However, as nurses of a very specialized medical center - they are alike.

As patients we know very little about them. Why? Because once they step into the Chemo Center (as I call it) at 7:00am in the morning, they have left their personal lives at home. The only thing they think about is every patient they will interact with that day. Their temperament brings joy, hope and a sense of calmness.

They are attentive to the needs of everyone. It is just as if I and I alone, was there that day. You do not have a sense that something in their minds or hearts may be troubling them, because their personal lives are just not showing. They are fully and completely engrossed in the well-being of their patients.

To me, this is truly a quality that is worth mentioning because I don’t think what they do is easy at all. As patients we all are different. Some of us have it easy, but some of us are suffering … a lot, yet all of us at the center receive the same kindness, the same attention, and the same love. This love is a total and unconditional love given freely to the person in need. So yes, these ladies truly deserve the recognition for their practice of “living for the sake of others”, which is the only way to live if we sincerely want to create a meaningful and lasting peace.