I saw my cousin a few weeks ago, Hani, and a desire to write a post on gratitude and kindness was triggered again.  It's the small things that people do that impact our lives. Experiencing kindness has a positive impact: It promotes wellness in the person extending the kindness, the recipient of kindness, and those observing it.  

Hani generously gave his time and expertise in graphics to help me create a conference presentation and format some of my dissertation work.  Amidst his busy schedule, he made the time to care, to be kind.   When I see Hani (which is maybe a couple times a year if I'm lucky), a sense of warmth and gratitude is experienced through the rightful association of Hani with  kindness.

Positive emotions of gratitude and kindness can be experienced across relational domains (work/school/social/familial/societal).  We can think of supervisors, teachers, friends, groups and organizations we are a part of or learn about in which kindness is embodied.  We can also schedule acts of kindness into our days and experience how our moments of positive emotion and days of gratitude heighten our acuity to all that is good and right in our world.


To kindness...to gratitude...to life! 

As I write this post, my sister, cousin Debbie, her girls (Hannah, Kayla, Sarah and Jenna) are playing Marco Polo.  As someone who enjoys my solitude, the cacophony of splashes, laughter, Marco and Polos are a welcomed delight.  As I set forth this weekend to the desert, entering a new job on Monday (in the desert, almost two hours from home), these moments are extra special, not only because I will likely see them less frequently, but also because we're having a fun day filled with silliness, sweets, and surprise.
To begin with, our lunch outing turned out to be a trip to Trader Joes, stocking up on all sorts of appetizers like sweet potato fries, arugula pizza, lentil-marina-feta dip, bird nests, pastry bites, garlic fries, and hummus...After several tastes of everything vegetarian, desserts came shortly after: We had dark chocolate peanut butter cupcakes (and pink lemonade ones, too, which I didn't try), mochi and trail mix. And, we put a couple candles on the cupcakes and sang Happy  Birthday to Debbie (belatedly)  
After the food, the pool party came next:  water polo, marco polo, tag, colors, and swim races.  I had packed up my car and was supposed to head back this afternoon, but decided to stay another night out here, last minute.  While I don't know what tonight will bring, Friday the 13th with a honey moon (My sister informed me this is a full moon on Friday the 13th and it will not happen again until 2049), I am so grateful for these moments so far today: silliness, sweets and much-welcomed surprises.