Confidence

 There he is, amidst his beloved cars.  The shade from a nearby tree casts its shadow on him as he works diligently moving the cars from one place to the next.  The breeze can be seen as it lifts his shiny brown hair ever so gently.  His head is down as he watches the wheels turn in a hypnotic rhythm.  He admires some of his more favorite ones by scrutinizing the detail of each one. His work is his play which is exemplified by the way he looks at each vehicle.  The sheer delight he has in his pastime is apparent by looking at his eyes, which are fixated on one of the, according to him, true wonders of the world.  His tongue can be seen slightly as he unconsciously chews on it as he works, an indispensable aid in concentration.  

The enjoyment of his vehicles must be set aside. for now the work begins. The roads for which these vehicles will travel has to be constructed.  He is the engineer and the laborer. the one who will design them by moving the dirt and sand to make the desired path.  It seems as if he has no rhyme or reason the way the road is laid out, but to see him as he maneuvers one of his favorite cars ever so gently along the newly constructed road it would seem he had driven that same way many times before. 

 As I stand and watch  this miracle of mine, I can't help but realize for the umpteenth time how lucky I am.  He notices my presence and his incredible brown eyes look up at me as he utters "What?"  With a disarming smile and his right eyebrow slightly raised. he knows why I am watching him and he couldn't agree more.  I tell him it's time to come in now.  He stands. His 'Hot Wheel' cars are at his feet on the roads of sand he built in his sand box  He runs to me.  I kneel down to return the hug he gives to me so freely and as we both exchange our love for each other with that hug. I tell him what a good boy he is and with confidence I hope lasts a life time his response is "I know".

Think

 As I walked out of the room thinking and saying the words out loud, 'Who will I see today?', she appeared. I had been thinking about her for weeks. In my thoughts she was the baby that had taken up permanent residence on my left hip until she started walking. I stepped out of the present to capture the images from the past that brought a smile to me.  All the thoughts were of her, my little girl. Now a grown women, who will forever be my baby.  I walked about one hundred feet and I had to focus to make sure my mind was actually capturing what my eyes were seeing. A surprised look appeared on her face, a look that was most likely on my face as well.  We hugged and chatted , hugged again then I watched her disappear out the door.

 That moment of seeing her was truly Serendipity. How was it possible that she appeared at that exact moment I walked out of that room. Coincidence?  Einstein's definition of coincidence....God's way of remaining anonymous. How many times does this happen to us when we aren't looking. Have you ever said 'I was just thinking of you' or 'I was thinking the same thing.' The word 'think' is a key word in this explanation. Our thoughts create our reality. Picture a thought as a boomerang. I'm thinking a thought of say, a book, any book. I will see a book during my waking time. Try it, with anything.  Say anything out loud then picture it in your head for even a second then watch what happens. Imagine if the thought was one of continuing movement. 

In this everyday world we call life, it' may be easy to be consumed by things that are 'out of our control'. Are they?  I was propelled to visit a group of people because of a 'feeling' I had.  How odd it was that the topic of conversation was one I had been ruminating about and was searching for an answer to a question I had. My question was answered by one of those people in that group without asking anyone anything. Serendipity? My thoughts? Both! I was drawn to that group by my question and by a fortunate accident. Hmmmm....

Kindness

 How fortunate for me to have chosen that particular restaurant at that particular time. I sat down in a booth to eat lunch and picked up the bread on plate my when I noticed two people across the room chatting.  I was trying to determine if it was a planned lunch for them or two people that just happened to engage in a conversation. I'll tell you why that determination was a question for me. One was a young black man and the other an elderly Caucasian woman. When I first saw them they were sitting at different tables which were next to each other. maybe two feet apart. Both of them had their back to the wall with their heads turned toward the other. The conversation between them seemed truly genuine, as if they had been friends for quite awhile. I ate my sandwich while I watched them talk, smile, and occasionally laugh.  Their physical positioning  gradually changed from having their backs against the wall to turning their upper body toward the other person. They continued to talk and had slightly leaned toward each other.  I wondered what the conversation between the two consisted of? Two very different generations, genders and races had found a common interest and a sincere desire to share that with another person, a total stranger. 

How grateful I am to have had this moment to be a part of their conversation, even if I hadn't spoken a word. I was a witness and a participant in this rare encounter between these two people. I finished my lunch as I watched the young man stand and give a nod with a smile to the woman. She returned the smile and waved goodbye. I got up from my table to leave and decided to stop and ask her if the visit between her the young man had been planned.  By her expression of great irritation to my question, her face clearly annoyed by my impolite approach. She raised her eyebrows and looked at me with slight anger.  I see now as I write this, how rude of me it was to question her.  I was so enthralled by the fact that her conversation with this young man even happened in the first place that I was compelled  to find an answer.  I quickly told her that I watched from across the room and how utterly amazed at the kindness I saw in their conversation.  In a blink her expression changed from one of anger to one of joy. She smiled at me and replied, 'Thank you". 

 This entire story, I believe, should be one of mere everyday  circumstances, not of uncommon and unlikely events. We would live in a world of bliss if the encounter of these two strangers was 'boring' to see. The ripple effect of events in our lives, good or bad, is in motion every minute of every day. His or her initial  comment to the other started a ripple that led me to approach her with a kind word of what I had seen.  How I passed that ripple on was not evident to me, but I am sure it was felt by someone who passed a kind word on to someone else. It matters most that the kindness is in constant motion, moving from one person to the next. Let's keep that kindness in motion. 

Coincidences

How bizarre...doing something for a specific beneficial reason led to an entirely different beneficial reason. Let me explain.  Say you decide to take a different route home because it was more aesthetically pretty. Now say, on that that route you encountered a small shop that you just happened to find interesting and go inside.  In that shop was a necklace that you've been searching for but couldn't find.  Next, you've chosen to watch a movie trailer and it just happens to have the song that's been playing in your head but you couldn't remember the lyrics. Where every good thing lead to another good thing and another and another? Did those coincidences happen all the time or was I just paying attention at the moment?  Both.

Why things like this happen is up to me to understand just like the events in your life are up to you to understand.  It's quite simple actually. What was I thinking about on that drive?  What song was playing in my head when I decided to watch the movie clip?  Ah yes, the old phrase, "Be careful what you wish for, YOU just might get it" is most likely the correct answer to this scenario. That thing you're wishing for is actually happening to you. What is swirling around in your mind most of the time? How awful something or someone is or how wonderful something or someone is? I held a door open for three people leaving at the same time and only one thanked me. Was I annoyed by the fact only one thanked me and the two didn't?  No, I was grateful for the kindness of that one person.  A few minutes later, I passed a stranger who stopped to make small talk.  It could have been annoying if I made it to be so, that in itself is a game changer. Stop right here and LOOK at your thoughts.  I'll give you a minute............Okay, what did you see?  Humans have sixty to seventy thousand thoughts in a day.  A dear friend described them as either fear based or bullshit. He's right and I'll add 'repetitive to that. Choosing to view my thoughts as just what they are; thoughts . They float through my mind in an endless series of commentaries. How fortunate I am to know these coincidences are God's way of remaining anonymous and how grateful I am for the coincidences in my life. My thoughts are creating my life just as yours are creating your life. Let's all have positive thoughts!!!