To improve yourself, do something for someone else.

On Monday I was downtown just to transfer from one bus to another and on the way to the other bus stop there was a gentleman holding a sign. This is fairly common in the downtown area with most signs explaining why they need your money, but this one was different.

He was holding a “FREE HUGS” sign. Now I’ve see these pop up from time to time and honestly never even had the urge to go up to them to redeem the offer.
However, I wasn’t in the greatest of moods and felt like I could use a hug… but a hug from a complete stranger?

I took a big gulp, walked up to him and said “I could use one of those”. The hug was fantastic. It was long, deep and connected. I could feel that he genuinely wanted to spread love and it lifted my spirits. After the exchange HE said thank you, but in a way that made me feel like he needed the hug more than I did.

“To improve yourself, do something for someone else.”

I challenge you to live out this statement today. One way that you can do this is by participating in #PositiveThurs on twitter. Write a positive/happy tweet, maybe even direct it @ someone. Include the hashtag so others can follow the “stream of love” and you’ll also be featured in my Storify post tomorrow.

Reach out to someone, or just remain positive today. It will not only do wonders for them, but for you as well.

You are what you choose to be.

I was at a BBQ the other day and ended up in a conversation with a gentlemen that got me thinking. I really don't put myself in enough situations where I have truly intellectual conversations.

Self discovery is different for everyone. I've always found that for me, it's not in reading or studies that I find out more about myself, it's in discussion.

In the conversation I made a statement. I said "People decide for themselves how they feel in the moment. You are what you choose to be."
People have the choice of how to react in all situations.

For example, I went to go to hang out with a new group of my boyfriends' friends. The first time I went there, I was so uncomfortable I asked my boyfriend if we could leave early. My boyfriend acknowledged the fact that they were a bit "different" but asked me to perhaps give them one more try and to go in with an open mind because they really liked me and kept asking when I was coming back! So the next time I went I thought to myself: These people are all people. So I just decided that I was going to have a good time. Do you know what? I did. Not only that, but I ended up having great conversation with a couple of the people there.

It was all in the decision. I found out that if I just treated those people like we were already friends then I was able to accept them for who they were. They are a little rough around the edges... but aren't all our edges a little rough?