Of everything I have ever learned, this is the most valuable piece of advice I have ever been given. Just Be You!  I am not a religious person, but I am spiritual. Now, I am not educated as to what labels are used for what things, so if "spiritual" has some kind of connotation, I don't know what it is... But, I believe in God, and I believe that I have a personal relationship with God. As such, I believe that God made me the person that I am. I believe that I am made exactly as I was intended to be made. I believe that God loves me - ALL of ME. The good, the bad and the ugly. I have been working for 48 years to also love ALL of ME. Not gonna try to claim that I am there yet - I have some fat rolls that I am not fond of. I can be randomly lazy. I tend to strongly dislike having to be "adult." I want to be thoughtful, kind, gracious, respectful, generous, nonjudgmental and a whole bunch of other great things, and sometimes I am. But, it is not always my first instinct, and even when it is, it is not always easy to follow through with. I can be down right bitchy and mean. I can judge you for your bad driving. I can be oblivious to the needs of those closest to me. I may not be to the place yet that I LOVE all of me, but I do ACCEPT it. I accept who I am. And, I accept who you are. The first step into life being easier, better, happier, more peaceful is accepting who you are. Just be you.

What does it mean to be kind? Kind is defined as having a friendly, generous, polite,  and considerate nature. Why is it that it is easier for me to be kind to my waitress, the check out girl, the person at the drive thru window, than it is to be kind to those I am close to? Why is it easier to be kind to those I am close to than it is to be kind to myself? I can be kind to a stranger for 5 minutes, but being consistently kind, day in and day out, to those I am close to is too hard? Does someone have to deserve my kindness? The better I know someone, the less of my kindness I think they have earned? Am I keeping score? Aiden (my 22 year old daughter and light of my life) was grumpy with me this morning and complaining about there being no milk in the house, so I was grumpy right back and told her that if she would buy some milk when she sees it getting low that wouldn't be a problem. Ha-told her! She didn't earn my kindness this morning. Wow, putting that in writing hurts. That's ugly. After that, I don't know if I can even write about being kind to myself. My inner voice is vicious! It points out every flaw, fault and weakness at every opportunity. I would never speak to another person the way I speak to myself all the time. So, I am going to work on being KIND, to myself, to those close to me and to everyone.