This is the first one that comes to mind. I made this meme, myself. I remembered a meme with this quote that I encountered in a Buddhist class many, many moons ago. That meme is blurry and not in a good format. I could not find another with this quote, so I made one, myself!
I love this quote. As soon as I encountered it all those years ago, it stirred something in me. It inspired me. I have always held the philosophy that if we have something to give to those in need, it’s best to give it. We don’t have to have a lot to give something. We all have something that someone else needs, even if it’s our time or attention and not something physical.
I’m not always friendly or kind in my interactions with others. But one thing I always know is, underneath, we share the experience of sentience. If I can stop someone’s suffering, I will.
Sometimes, the pain of others can be overwhelming and drag us down, but instead, it can inspire us to act for the benefit of others. It can be in small things we do each day, or the paid work we do, or volunteer work. If ever you feel overwhelmed by empathy, maybe let it motivate you to reach out and love someone.
In February 2015, I took the Bodhisattva vows with a Buddhist Monk. I have broken them again and again. But still, I think of them as my anchor, and I always find my way back to them and see them as a lifelong goal to always reach for.
🩷💛
❤️And on a funnier note…😆💯 I’m planning to get this on a shirt one day lol
These are just a few of my favorite memes. 😍 I can’t choose just one!
The Carnegie Medal is a prestigious award considered one of the highest civilian honors in the U.S. and Canada.
I love this!!
There’s a medal of honor awarded to “ordinary” people who legit risk or even give their own lives or risk very serious bodily injury, to save another person’s life, often the life of a stranger.
They have to risk their own life to an extraordinary degree, to be considered for the award.
They said there are around 800 nominations a year, and only 11% are accepted to receive the medal of honor. That is amazing, though, that at least 800 people a year go to great lengths to save someone else’s life, even at the risk of their own.
They don’t just potentially risk their lives but actually have a significant risk of dying or experiencing serious bodily trauma.
To receive the award, the victim or survivor has to have been in a situation where their life was in imminent danger, where they would have died right then, if not for the person who saved them.
I’m reading a book about the science and psychology of altruism, and the Carnegie Hero Medal is mentioned. I heard of it before, but I decided to look it up now.
It’s very interesting. The website has many stories of people who were given this medal. Anyone can nominate anyone we want for it. The incident has to have been in the last two years, and the victim and “hero” had to have both been within inches of death. In some cases, the “hero” does die and receives the medal posthumously.
To receive the award, they have to come so close to dying that it’s a wonder they’re still alive. They don’t have to be injured, but many are. There has to be witnesses and/or media reports to confirm the incident really happened and is extraordinary enough to warrant receiving a medal.
They have to be people who risk their own life not as part of their job but out of the goodness of their heart, for no reason other than to save another human. And they have to know their own life is significantly at risk, to receive the medal.
I was skimming through the stories, there are hundreds. It is truly amazing and so heartwarming to read the lengths that people will go to save a stranger’s life. It looks like most of them are men. I was skimming through the list, and saw hundreds, and saw only one woman “hero.” That’s probably because men are more likely to take risks and are more likely to engage in physical things because of social programming.
They are also usually physically stronger. All of these situations are very physical. Many drowning incidents and pulling people out of burning buildings and vehicles and tackling assailants who are assaulting women.
There are probably more women/girls on the list, I haven’t looked at them all. A while ago, I did read a story about a 16 year old girl who received this medal for saving a drowning man. Jumped in and carried him out of an ocean.
There’s one where a stranger saved a man and his dog who were almost electrocuted. The dog bit him when he was saving them lol To receive the award, the victim/survivor has to be human.
One of the “heroes” is as young as 10 years old (he saved another child’s life). One is a 15 year old boy, he ran into a burning building to save a family in the middle of the night when he saw the flames across the street while he was staying in a motel with his dad. His dad was trying to convince him not to go through with it, but the boy wouldn’t listen. And he saved an entire family. He ran in like a super hero and woke them and pulled them out. The story is wild! The boy was injured by smoke inhalation. Everyone involved survived.
There were three teenagers who broke into a burning car and pulled out two women who were trapped. They went into the car after getting the women out, to make sure no one else was in there on the floor or anything. The car was burning down and could have exploded with them inside. One man gave his life for a stranger who was being attacked. She lived.
Just scroll through the list and read a few if you want to be inspired and have your faith in at least some of humanity restored. It’s a reminder that exceptionally good and brave people are among us. Ordinary angels!
It’s amazing and uplifting to see the extent people will go to save complete strangers, even knowing there is a very good chance they themselves will die trying. We see so much negativity in the news and on social media. So much violence inflicted on humans by other humans, wishing death on each other, arguing over politics, just walking by when seeing someone in distress or having an emergency…
Stories and people like the Carnegie medal heroes get overlooked and drowned out in all the negative things.
We need more people caring and more visibility!! 💚
I don’t necessarily recommend risking your own life to save someone else, but I do promote caring more than it seems society currently does and bringing visibility to cases where someone does go to this length, not because they want credit but because it restores our faith in humanity some, and it’s just uplifting and balances out the negative in the world.
Remember what Mr. Rogers said? Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.
I picked up the morning paper the headlines were no surprise a random act of senseless violence was committed again last night it seems the whole world has gone crazy and something needs to be done so starting today, I’m gonna find a way I’m gonna repay someone
With a random act of senseless kindness unexpected hand to help remind us a little bit of love is the cure for hate it’s easy to give up but it’s never too late a single step in the right direction person to person making a connection we can change the world that’s become so violent with a random act of senseless kindness
Do you have a quote you live your life by or think of often?
❤️
You never know who you may be helping or inspiring, even in difficult situations.
Years ago, I saw a short video clip with an elementary school teacher sharing his true experience with a troubled little boy.
He said the boy was very difficult. He yelled at the teacher and wouldn’t do his work. He was disruptive in class and was always verbally aggressive with the teacher. He could tell the boy hated him. It never stopped all year, the boy acting up and being rude & negative to the teacher.
He showed the boy nothing but love & kindness in return. He was always patient and tried to be as understanding as possible, but he said it was difficult. All throughout the yelling and disrupting the class and rudeness the little boy displayed, the teacher’s love never wavered.
At the end of the year, the kids all gave him a card, thanking him for being their teacher and for being kind & helpful.
He sat at his desk and read all the cards after the last class was over and all the kids walked out that one last time.
All the messages the kids wrote were positive. Then, he got to the card that difficult little boy wrote to him.
The teacher said he was anxious to open it. He hesitated and thought “Oh no, what is this one going to say.” He already knew it would be an insult or something like “I hate you, you were the worst teacher.”
Finally, he opened it and read. The teacher was shocked.
It read: “I wish you were my dad.”
He was deeply moved by just that one line.
That story stayed with me since I heard it many years ago. I’m not sure why. It’s a recurring memory through the years. It’s probably the best story I ever heard.
That must have been the best and most heartbreaking compliment that man ever received.
It just goes to show how our own life can touch someone’s else’s for the better, even in the least expected places. ❤️
Happy, healthy, joyful, full of energy 💕 This is a recent pic of me.
1.) The season changing! Bring on the pumpkin everything, the cool nights, all the Fall decor, the crunchy leaves, the cozy sweater weather, the horror movies (I watch them all year, but they have an extra thrill to them in the Fall) 🎃🍁🍂
2.) A scary movie I’m going to watch the rest of tonight. I tried watching it last night and fell asleep. I think it’s called “Bad Influence.“
3.) Meeting up with my friend soon for his birthday! I’m taking him out to breakfast at a cafe we both love! 💕
4.) An e-mail someone sent me, complimenting me! I volunteer as an organ donation ambassador with The Gift of Life Program in Philadelphia, and the director told me I’m a delight to work with! Made my day lol
5.) These vegan low cost protein shakes I just discovered at the Amazon grocery store that just opened up close to where I work! Delicious & healthy
It’s the little things! 😍
Share yours here if you want!
This post was meant for yesterday, but I forgot to share it lol
Write about a random act of kindness you’ve done for someone.
Years ago, like 20+ years ago, I was taking a college psychology class, and I met a girl who was taking the same class with the same professor but a different part of the day than me. So, we weren’t in class together. She did not have the money to buy the text book. My dad bought my books for me. So, in the evenings, I would write out the portions of the book she needed for assignments, exams, and quizzes in an e-mail and send it to her. It was very time consuming. I’m not even sure if that’s legal, likely not as it was enough for her to not have to buy the book. But it helped her immensely, and I don’t regret it lol I know what it’s like to not have enough money for something essential. And I remember having no idea what I would do if my dad did not buy my books. Where do they think an 18 year old is going to get $500+?
Back then, these phones with the cameras and all weren’t really a thing or as popular yet. And I had no scanner and never really thought of making copies somewhere, which would have been much easier. So, I spent hours just sitting there writing the text out for a complete stranger I never even met face to face.
I met her in a group online where she wrote that she couldn’t buy the book yet and was desperate for help and pleaded with anyone to send her the content. I could feel the desperation in her posts. She had no idea what to do. No one else responded, so I did. Saved her ass 😆
I love posts like this because it’s uplifting & heartwarming & inspiring to see the goodness in humans. When we share our acts of kindness, it can inspire others to be kind or just brighten their day.
Yes, I have had two surgeries under general anesthesia. (Also had minor oral surgery while awake)
In 2007, when I was 20 years old, I was in unbearable pain off & on. I thought nothing of it because the episodes were brief, and I was young enough back then not to give a second thought to my health or mortality. Lol Those were the days.
I was about to turn 21 years old. Then, not long after turning 21 years old, I woke up fatigued, with chills, and as sick as I have ever been with a terrible, persistent throbbing ache in my side. It traveled up my back and stopped at a certain point and at that point turned into severe sharp pain that felt like broken glass moving around in the spot that I later found out is my kidney. It wouldn’t let up and kept worsening throughout the day. I tried getting a shower that morning and was too sick and weak and in too much pain. I slid down into the bathtub, leaning against it with my head on the side as the shower water was streaming onto me.
This was so unusual for me. I was always young and healthy, never even so much as a cold.
I knew something was very, very wrong. Intuitively, I just knew I would need surgery but had no idea what was happening inside me. I kept telling myself it’s just a badly pulled muscle and putting off going to a hospital. Everyone said it was probably my appendix because my age was a common age for it back then. And it was on the side where the appendix is and the same symptoms except I also had kidney pain.
I could feel something inside me about to rupture. I felt the pressure building up and the pain. Eventually, I knew I had to go to a hospital that day. My dad came home early after work and took me to a hospital emergency room where I found I needed emergency kidney surgery under general anesthesia because of a potentially life threatening complication of a kidney stone that got stuck in my kidney and was obstructing it & the ureter. There was no time to wait for other options, like to see if the stone would move. They said it was lodged into the kidney and blocking the ureter. It could no longer do its job. The kidney shut down and was enlarged. I only had one functioning kidney. Waiting could result in rupture, permanent damage, or even necessary kidney removal.
The doctors said it was very unusual for that to happen to someone as young as I was and to a woman. It usually happens to older men when it does.
They were confident enough but weren’t certain they could save the kidney or that it wouldn’t have some extent of lasting damage. Thankfully, the kidney made a full recovery. They said I got there just in time.
My recovery was extremely difficult, both physically & emotionally. I struggled hard every day with the pain and fact of not being my usual healthy self. I was sick and weak and in the worst pain everyday.
Back then, it was the most painful experience of my whole life.
My urologist back then told me it would likely happen again, that it usually happens more than once when it happens to someone, especially when it happens to a young person. But he did say a helathy diet can make it less likely.
Almost, twenty years later, and thankfully, it never happened again. I was told by my doctors more recently that as long as I drink an adequate amount of water each day, I can likely avoid any more kidney stones.
I do not recommend this experience. Please drink your water and flush out those kidneys. You do NOT want this. At best, it’s excruciating, at worst, you can lose a kidney (or even die). I almost did and can speak firsthand, which makes me an expert who you should listen to 🤣😂
Around seventeen years later, I had another surgery. Kidney related also. I gave my kidney (the one that kept me alive back then when this one shut down) to a man who was dying of kidney failure. You can read about that here. 💚💙 Best thing I ever did. 🫘 I wish I had more kidneys to give. If I could, I would give a kidney to everyone who needs one (with the exception of people who would use it to inflict suffering on others, as I don’t wish to enable that, but they aren’t too common).
Random pic lol It seems fitting because he looks liberated, and to me writing is liberating.
It’s empowering and cathartic and a way to immortalize ourselves. When we put pen to paper or fingertips to a keyboard, we freeze a part of ourselves in time. It will last long after we do. It’s also a great way to organize our thoughts and clear our mind even if what we write is all over the place. I also feel that it’s a form of self validation. When there’s something, an emotion, a thought, an experience, an opinion floatingaround in our head or body, putting it in writing gives it a space, makes it tangible in a way.I love its healing effect. I know speaking can do this too, but for me, writing is more powerful.
I have always been much better at expressing things through writing than speaking. Thoughts and details just come to me more frequently and easily through writing. And when I write something, I can re read it and edit or add more before sharing with others.
A while ago I shared a post about my real experience with rejection many years before. I did not realize just how much that experience needed an outlet until I wrote about it. Speaking in words can also be healing, but to put it in writing I was able to express in more details.
Here are some excerpts out of that post:
“Writing this gives me life. It makes me so happy to put all my pain and love into words. To give a voice to this experience that has haunted me for years. An experience that I thought ruined me for life. An experience I thought reduced me to less of the woman I was before her. But it actually gave me more depth, substance, and gave me a story. My own unique story. I am glad for it. I just can’t wait to put my story out into the uni-verse. To give it the space it’s worthy of. For years I thought it was something to keep all inside. I thought it was bad and wrong and humiliating and should be erased out of history. I thought it should die with me. But that’s not true. It’s part of me. It happened. It molded me into what I am. And it’s ok to give it space, to give it a name, to give it life.“
“I’m thankful now for the opportunity to be able to put into words as best as I can, what I did not have the nerve or ability to back then. I thought I would take this to my grave. Writing it is healing.“
“So here is my story! I found it so healing and enlightening to revisit and write. I did not realize how I still had some pent up emotion surrounding this experience. Writing this story healed me in ways I did not realize I still needed healing almost ten years after the rejection. It was cathartic, and there were pent up emotions, wounds needing an outlet, needing a voice, needing validation, needing to be honored, held. I am so thankful I got the opportunity and found the courage to put into words and share what I never thought I could.“
Another thing I like about writing is the opportunity for reading it. I love reading what I wrote, especially poems, sometimes even a long while later. I usually prefer reading over listening. I prefer to read my words than listen to a recording or watch a YouTube video. This is also true for books I read written by others.
There’s just something beautiful about the written word.
As I write this letter Send my love to you Remember that I’ll always Be in love with you Treasure these few words ’til we’re together Keep all my love forever P.S. I love you ❤️
The positive emotion I most experience is joy. I also experience happiness. But I’m currently not as happy asI could be because I don’t have close friends in person, and I am very social. For me to be as happy & fulfilled, & mentally healthy as I can be, I need close emotional connections and some degree of regular in person socialization. While many days I am happy & fulfilled, it’s still not as much as if I had close friends/a close person. And there are days I struggle to feel happy & fulfilled. There are days, even weeks or a month, where I’m depressed either directly because I have no close friends or just more susceptible to it because of not having close friends and something else will trigger the depression, even something trivial like my earphones breaking or getting lost. That’s not something that would trigger an onset of depression, it’s because I already have the condition, and that condition is more likely to flare up over trivial things when I’m not socializing or connecting enough with other humans. It’s hard as an adult to meet friends. I have struggled with loneliness & depression off & on because of having no friends for the last few years. Even with friends I can have depressive episodes or symptoms but not as frequently or deeply, and they’re easier to cope with when I have friends.To me, the social aspect of life is most important, more important than career or being financially secure. And to lack that affects mymentalhealth.
But joy is something I experience no matter what mood I’m in or what kind of day I’m having. Even when I’m depressed I can experience joy sometimes. I experience it multiple occasions a day.
It’s a beautiful feeling and feels almost like being kid again. I experience joy over the most simple things like an iced latte or ice cream or acts of kindness, seeing my dogs, getting a new shirt or painting my nails, taking pictures of myself, photography, happy/joyful memories, a cool breeze, the changing of the seasons, walking, buildings, holidays, writing poetry, even dark poetry, finding a good sounding horror book or movie, Oldies songs, rediscovering a song I haven’t heard in years and love but forgot about, stilettos & lingerie, flowers, hugs….so many things to be joyful about! ❤️
To me, happiness is a more long-term, often calm feeling that involves a sense of fulfillment & well-being. Joy is more fleeting, can be more intense in a way than happiness, and I can experience it even when I don’t feel generally fulfilled.
I’m wishing happiness & joy to everyone else! 😁Hopefully I get this account upgraded soon so I can add new pictures!
