Years ago I learned a secret for chasing away the "blues." I determined that when I was down in the dumps, I would look around each day, and find one nice thing to do for another person. Whether baking cookies, sending cards, or making out-of-the-blue phone calls, focusing on the needs of others took my mind off myself. Sometimes I could not wait to jump out of bed to fit one nice, special thing for someone else into my busy schedule.
Today I was feeling a bit discouraged, so I purposed to be on the alert for an opportunity to do a nice thing.
In conversation with his daddy, I learned that my special needs friend had reached a milestone in his life yesterday. HE READ HIS FIRST BOOK ALL THE WAY THROUGH! My friends are schooling Philip at home, and this progress is huge.
I placed a phone call to Philip to let him know how proud of him I am, and how much I love him. Hearing him exclaim, with his delightful little squeal, "I love you, too," turned my heart to pure mush.
All evening I've thought about Philip...not myself. Pretty cool secret isn't it? Doing one nice thing.
***Recently I found this website, Do One Nice Thing. WHOA! A KINDRED SPIRIT! They encourage their readers to do one nice thing each Monday, and give you loads of great ideas.
