Act of Kindness #1

Everyone who has driven in South Florida knows how testy it can be. Turn signals are indicator for the car coming behind "speed up and don't let me change lanes", left lanes are "drive at 50 miles per our on the interstate and not move out of the way for faster traffic lane", and the middle finger is not a grabbing finger, but a "up yours finger".
Anytime it rains, traffic slows down significantly and one minor fender-bender on I-95 means an additional 45 minutes to your commute.

I have to say that being kind while driving is hard, maybe very hard.

So today, as I am waiting patiently in line for over 20 minutes to get off the interstate, some "smarty pants" drove all the way to the head of the line and wanted to cut in... and I let him. I did not speed up to prevent him from doing so. I did not tail gate the car in front of me just to make sure he would not force his car in front of mine...and I felt ok.
In reality, I felt better. Instead of agitated and anxious, I felt in peace. I listened to Bee Gees "Staying Alive" on the radio and sang out loud as I attempted a few John Travolta moves.

I might not be a good singer, but I am pretty sure I put on a pretty entertaining show!

365 Acts of Kindness- A sweet year for all

When I was a little girl, I used to aspire to be as good as Mother Theresa or Joan of Arc. Of course, I am not even a tenth as good as Mother Theresa and the only voices I hear in my head are the ones of self-criticism.

I realized though that I did not want to be a saint. I wanted to do something great, something inspiring. However, I focused so much on doing something of great proportion and impact that I forgot neither of these women ever aspired to be heroes. They only did what they believed in and I believe in the power of kindness and humility.

Every day, I have fought with my pride, my ambitions, and my ideas of what constitutes success.  Nevertheless, every time I reached or attained a goal that others defined as important, in my heart, I was never really happy. I learned the little things made me happy: a sunny day, painting and drawing, spending time with my husband and my dogs and most of all, helping others as I could.

That's why I started this blog. In this first day of the Jewish New Year, we learn that one of the most fundamental parts of Jewish life is the concept of Tzedakah, or charity. Therefore, I decided that everyday will be a day that will welcome an act of kindness. No matter how small or how big, I decided to do at least 1 good deed to a fellow living thing. 

Thank you for joining me on this journey.