find the kind
"I guess I could be pretty pissed off about what happened to me... but it's hard to stay mad, when there's so much beauty in the world. Sometimes I feel like I'm seeing it all at once, and it's too much, my heart fills up like a balloon that's about to burst... And then I remember to relax, and stop trying to hold on to it, and then it flows through me like rain and I can't feel anything but gratitude for every single moment of my stupid little life... You have no idea what I'm talking about, I'm sure. But don't worry... you will someday."
-Lester Burnham in "American Beauty"
this blog is a collection of stories, pictures, and videos to remind us to be grateful for our stupid little lives.
submit yours to littlegreenbeth@gmail.com, anonymity by request
A Moment of Purpose —posted by theangerguy, on Jun 13, 2010
Lately, I’ve been trying to listen more to the messages I send myself. Having some extra time the other day, I thought: “I’ve got an hour to kill.” I winced; feeling the word “kill.” So I changed my thought to: “I’ve got an hour to live.” Wow! My mindset completely changed. And then, out of nowhere, I found my self leaving a “smile card” on the table behind me. As I sat, my insides started to giggle, I couldn’t help but laugh like a little kid. It was euphoric just knowing that I could benefit some else, even a little bit. I literally felt, in real time, my value as a human being. At that moment, I felt that I had found my real purpose. I never did see who picked it up, but it didn’t matter. I had gained so much. My soul had spoken. I learned that when I am unaware, I am nowhere. But when I am “purposely aware,” I am now here.
[via helpothers.org]
All we’ve gotta do is be brave and be kind - the national
Look at the sky: that is for you. Look at each person’s face as you pass on the street: those faces are for you. And the street itself, and the ground under the street, and the ball of fire underneath the ground: all these things are for you. There are as much for you as they are for other people. Remember this when you wake up in the morning and think you have nothing.
— from No One Belongs Here More Than You by Miranda July.
submitted by Caroline S.
Toby the Cabbie
A few weeks right after I moved to Manhattan, I had gone out with a few friends and my new roommates to celebrate the big move It ended like any night out in the summer would, with a lot of drinks, and some stumbling home. Still new to the city, we weren’t sure we would be able to find our way back to our new apartment, let alone drunk in heels. So I did something I never do— I hailed a cab. The ride was boring enough. Toby, our cabbie, was patient enough to indulge in our slurred conversation, and in no time at all, we were on our corner. I took out my wallet, paid, scrambled for my keys and went home.
The next morning my roommates and I went to brunch, and somewhere between the bread and my omelet I realized my wallet was gone. I couldn’t remember the last place I had it, and after frantically searching for the better part of my Sunday, I accepted it was gone. I was all set to cancel my cards and replace everything, when I got a call from my mom.
“Hey Kristina, are you missing something? Your wallet, maybe?”
“Yes… I am. How did you know?”
“Because Andy tells me this nice guy dropped it off this morning.”
Our cab driver from the night before drove all the way to my family’s house in New Jersey, because that was the address on my license, to return my wallet completely intact. Not only that, but my parents weren’t home when he arrived, so he asked our next door neighbor to keep it until they got home. It wasn’t some sweeping gesture of epic proportions or anything, but it was one of the kindest things anyone had ever done for me, let alone a stranger. He pretty much restored my faith in random acts of kindness.
submitted by Kristina L.
