MakeBeliefs 2 Help U Smile & Lift Your Spirits:
Take A Moment to Recount Your Blessings!
Here’s the latest installment in our new Make Beliefs Series, ''MakeBeliefs 2 Help U Smile & Feel J_Y.'' They are created to provide comfort and hope to young and old who are feeling distressed and anxious in our too fast-changing and sometimes unforgiving world. It’s our way of making things better!
There is a wonderful movie in which an old man wakes up in the morning and says, “Thank you for a new day of life, Lord.” You see, he felt blessed to see another new day. He was old enough to have learned that nothing is forever and it is best to appreciate what one is given daily— the sun that rises, the roosters which crow, the food to be eaten, the love each of us experiences from others. Every new day became sacred for this person and he would awake as if reborn.
You, dear reader, are likely to be much younger than the old man, but surely there is much in your life to be grateful for – a loving family or friends, good health, the joy of nature, the kindness of others. Take a moment to express what you are grateful for – it’s a good way to begin the new day.
What are the simple things you are grateful for? Please share.
To help you think more deeply about gratitude, why not also take a look at our free e-book, ‘’Hummingbird Joy: A Book of All the Things That Make You Happy,’’ which you can easily download at: https://makebeliefscomix.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Hummingbird-Joy.pdf
The wonderful drawings by Tom Bloom will bring you joy.
MakeBeliefs to Help Make the World A Little Better:
What If, with A Snap of A Finger, You Could Turn A Bully’s Brutal Nature into A Force for Performing Good Deeds?
The subject of bullying is very appropriate right now as we observe the brutal tactics of Russia’s Vladimir Putin in waging war on Ukraine. And this week, The New York Times reported that the bullying problem is increasing in Europe against Russian-speaking students who are being blamed for Putin’s war. The Times article said, “World events have often supplied excuses for bullying, harassment, shaming and humiliation. The Covid-19 pandemic brought a wave of harassment for Asian children, and in 2016, after a series of Islamic State terrorist attacks, Muslim children reported an increase in bullying. Now…. distress over the war in Ukraine has added new targets for the kind of vindictive behavior that can lead children to avoid school and, in some cases, result in depression and suicidal thoughts.’’
What if all the energy that goes into bullying and harassment could be put to work to do good? Fill in the MakeBeliefs illustration and give us your thoughts. Do you know a bully who has seen the light and changed her or his ways? What is the best way to stop or change a bully? Share with us.
(For help to stop bullying, visit https://heyugly.org/prevent-bullying-now/ )
How Do You Overcome Despair?
Catch your breath and read:
The Peace of Wild Things
By Wendell Berry
When despair for the world grows in me
and I wake in the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children’s lives may be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.
I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought
of grief. I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting with their light. For a time
I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.
Just reading this beautiful, quiet poem helps one gain hope and breathe more deeply in coping with an increasingly angry world.
Why not turn this poem into something personal for you? Take the first line – ‘’When despair for the world grows in me’’ – and make that the opening line for your own poem on how you deal with despair.
You can use the Sunshine template on this page to type your words that tell your own story. Please share with us.
(And, if you are not sure how to write a poem, take a look at this wonderful poem – ‘’How to Write A Poem If You Want To’’ – by my friend poet Esther Cohen at https://www.womanaroundtown.com/sections/reading-around/poets-corner-how-to-write-a-poem-esther-cohen/ She shows how and makes it so easy and fun. See for yourself. Esther publishes poems each day at: overheardec@substack.com )
A Brave Human Who Refuses to be Intimidated; Would You Have As Much Courage?
Nobel Peace Prize winner and Russian editor Dmitry Muratov, who has criticized Russia’s war in Ukraine, was about to travel on a train from Moscow when an assailant attacked him with a mixture of red paint and acetone. It left his eyes with a chemical burn. The assailant yelled, ‘’Muratov, here’s one for our boys’’ – a reference to Russian forces fighting in Ukraine. The U.S. government has assessed that Russian intelligence was behind the attack.
In an interview with Geneva Solutions, Muratov brushes off this frightening experience, ‘’I had an eyelid burn and conjunctivitis. I have to wear dark glasses. I tell myself that with dark glasses and a red beard, I would look good.’’
Editor Muratov was forced to close his newspaper, Novaya Gazeta. He plans to auction his Nobel Prize medal and work with UNICEF ‘’so that it benefits all those refugees, in Europe, in Ukraine and those who are on Russian territory. We must also create a support fund for the media in exile, so that people can continue to work.’’
Do you think you could be as brave and unselfish as Muratov? What is to be learned from his example? Please share your comments with us.
What Heroic Deed Would You Wish to Do?
This week Darren Harrison, a passenger with no flying experience, radioed an urgent plea for help when the pilot of a small plane suddenly fell ill off Florida’s Atlantic coast, and was able to land the plane safely with the help of air traffic controller Robert Morgan.
WOW! Now take a moment or two to fantasize about what kind of heroic deed you would like to do? Would it be to stop a train from going so fast if the conductor passed out? Or, to stop a bully threatening a stranger? Or, something as simple as helping an elderly person walk down some steep steps? Doing heroic deeds can mean so many things. What deed would you like to accomplish? Click the button below to tell us!
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