Compassion

These two simple words are on one of my favorite T-shirts. It’s from Best Friends Animal Sanctuary (www.bestfriends.org), and it has a cartoon drawing of a dog and a cat together with these two words underneath. It is so simple and yet so powerful. I was wearing this T-shirt at the workout club the other day and a woman said to me, “So easy to say, but not so easy to do.”

I was driving a different route to a meeting and found myself in a long line of traffic trying to merge onto a busy roadway. The cars were very slowly moving into the lane of traffic, and it was taking a great deal longer than I had anticipated for my drive. I normally go another route to this area of the city, and would have been in the line of cars letting others in, not waiting to get in – if I had gone my normal route.

As I was thinking about my next blog and listening to Christmas music on the radio, I heard an advertisement from the head of a media firm. He was saying a public “thank you” to his employees, his customers, members of the military, the police and fire departments and others. He had a list of people in his world whom he wanted to recognize.
 

I had the good fortune to have brunch with two of my cousins this past weekend. It’s really wonderful when there are people in one’s family that are truly enjoyable to be around, and these two are that. I’m blessed to have relationships in my adult life with my cousins that I did not have – for a variety of reasons – when I was a child. We find so many common experiences, though, and also are able to share at a very deep and meaningful level. By the end of the brunch, they had “adopted” me as their other sister!

I have to admit while I love the holidays, I hate the holiday crowds and the bad feelings that seem to circulate at this time of the year. Going to the mall is a nightmare – no parking spaces, people pushing everywhere and fighting for a bargain as if it will make the difference in their lives. I listen to the advertisements for the “perfect” gift and I can’t help but think about the families and children who watch it all but can’t participate in it due to financial or other constraints.

I love this time of the year – preparing for the holidays. I especially enjoy shopping for less fortunate children, and volunteering my time. But when I am alone my most favorite aspect is listening to the Christmas music. We have a radio station that started playing all holiday music the day after Halloween, which is fine with me! One of the songs I really like is often sung by Amy Grant, “Grown-up Christmas List.” She sings about all of the things she’d like to have for Christmas – love, peace and an end to hunger.