It's been a few weeks since I've sat down to this actual blog...as I continue to grow this baby and stay as alert as possible to the other two small ones in our house, my energy has been a little quieter. And, by golly gee, that's ok! It's all about the ebbs and flows of life anyways, right?
But today I wanted to share our experience because it got me thinking about something that comes and goes in my mind often. Why, in general, do our brains tend to focus on the negative acts we are witness to? The bad drivers, the rude cashier, the unfolding murder case we heard on the news? Is it the news? And, if so, why does most news have to be the negative stories?
We have 24 hour news channels that track events all over the world...natural disasters, bombings, murders, financial crisis, celebrity divorces and on and on and on. What about a 24 hour POSITIVE new channel? Community gardens being built, innovative research towards health, babies being born, kids laughing, animals being rescued, businesses helping build local community, teachers who are supporting the learning of our children! There is so much good that could be focused upon but so much of our brain space is eaten up with the road blocks, it can be difficult to make the shift.
But as I continue to learn, and talk about, our brains have the ability to shift focus. And when we do, we begin to see more and more kindness happening.
Case in point - our afternoon ice cream stop. We went to a new ice cream shop that our friends told us about. It's local and small, something that we very much like to support. When we walked in, there were two people working and they both greeted us and worked together to get our order prepared. As I sat with the kids, two men came in to order. I believe they were law enforcement of some sort, but not wearing official uniforms - however as they placed their order, I overheard the employees ask if they were on duty. The two men said yes, and they were given their ice cream on the house - being told that it was the shop's way of saying Thank You for their service in our community.
Such a simple gesture probably made such a positive impact on their day.
As we got back in the car, I decided to go back through the drive through and share our Power Flowers with the employees to help "repay" the kindness and let them know their kindness was seen. The woman asked how she could pay the kindness forward, and I told her they already were!
So Thank You to Frostbite Ice Cream for not only providing delicious treats BUT also sharing kindness into our world!
And here's to opening our eyes to the GOOD in the world...because it's always there!