BE THE WOMAN THAT STRAIGHTENS ANOTHER WOMAN'S CROWN, WITHOUT TELLING THE WORLD IT WAS CROOKED!

Hello beautiful Queens!! I want to thank you all for your messages of love and support. You truly have no idea how much it means to me. I have been surrounded by so many emails it has been hard to keep up. I promise I will get to you though. I have received many topics of interest that you would like to see here or talk about. It is definitely coming! I appreciate each and every one of you!

Summer is here and I hope each and every one of you are enjoying every moment with your families. Let us not to forget the value of a nice gesture or a smile for a stranger or someone passing by, you don't know their struggles. Holidays sometimes are a struggle for some people. It doesn't matter how big or small the holiday it is. There is someone with no family, no loved ones, some that have lost someone, struggling with depression.... we don't know someone's struggle, but we can do something to make this world a better place.

I had a conversation the other day with a smart, beautiful, and kind-hearted lady yesterday. The topic came up of how awful our world is. She explained her thoughts about how awful people were and how awful our world has become. I believe in my heart her hope had been lost. She also went on to tell me there was no hope whatsoever in this world. That no matter what it will always be this awful place where teenagers set animals on fire, or beat them up for kicks. That children were murdering their parents. Thieves lurking around every corner. Someone is always out to get you or steal your identity. She went on listing so many devastating things going on in society and this awful world. Keep in mind, this person is one of the most loving caring ladies I know. I was shocked to hear these things coming out of her mouth. My thoughts were that she did have a point to make, however, this world around us and the people around us are what we surround ourselves with and what we choose to do about it. I will add media affects our life like no other. In my heart, I saw how easy it was to get swallowed up in all of this and feel the same way she did. It gets difficult at times to process things when you feel as you are surrounded nothing but darkness. Imagine The Neverending Story movie. If you have no watched this movie, go get it right now! You don't know what your life is lacking.

My rebuttal to her was this: I know there is awful in this world, a butt load as a matter of fact. However, there is so much GOOD and LOVE! With every ounce of my being, I believe the good outweighs the bad by a bazillion! I told her that I understood where she was coming from, but that I could not agree with her feelings of how terrible everything seems to be. That would only welcome that darkness into my life, and I would never allow that. I say that to say this. I know today is an anniversary of a friend of mine losing her son to an overdose. I also know today is the birthday of a beautiful young lady that overdosed years ago. I also know last week a woman broke in a long line of people without asking while all the time people were behind me cussing, thinking what the hell is she doing. You could see the distress on her face, something was amiss. Come to find out, she had to get gas and get to the hospital as her father was dying at that very moment and she was trying to get there to be with him in his last moments and she only needed gas to get there. These people can use a smile, an I love you, a door held open for them, a simple greeting while passing them in the store, a simple Facebook message, a text saying I am thinking of you, a happy smile from a stranger can go a long way.

I know there is bad going on somewhere in this world. I also know that there are others like me that try no matter what to spread love every day. That love GROWS. I told her it is like the ripple of throwing a stone in a pond. I plop my happy stone and it grows! If I make someone look at me and think that I made them smile they just might do something to make someone else smile. If I go out of my way to do something extra to make someone feel special, I believe that will spread and will go on and on. I could and will make a list of things at the bottom of this post and challenge you to try a few out. Since I have been doing these things in my life, my life has changed. I am happier. I laugh harder. I smile more. I feel as if every day that goes by I am living more. My new words for the past month is to say "I appreciate you" to people I come in contact with.

Have you ever noticed the way people choose where to sit while in a doctors office? I actually went to have a wellness checkup at my doctor's office today. People tend to avoid other people. I was one of the first ones there and sat in my seat with a seat on each side of me. I noticed as people came in no one sat in a chair close to another person. Of course, my mind went into overdrive, I saw my doctor and went down to get lab work done. After I had my blood drawn I noticed the same thing in a much larger room of people waiting to get their labs done. I walked out, saw the first empty chair and asked two guys if a seat was taken instead of walking to the back and getting a chair away from everyone else. Guess what! I met Mr. Jones, a lovely old man. He proceeded to tell me he was waiting for the vampire ( I also call the lab people the same thing) and I informed him I had already seen the vampire and that I was waiting on another lab test to check and see if I had a heart (I had to take an EKG test) He told me about the heart attack he had years ago and how lucky he was to be alive and that he had seen the same doctor for the past 30+ years. How he loved growing vegetables and would always bring some to the nurse and his doctor. Oh, how I miss the old school days and simple sweet gestures. We joked about me sitting next to him. I told him we much just be in the VIP section (front row). After much chatting he laughed at him marrying a lady that was a Smith, which I quickly came back with she must have been wanting to "keep up with the Jones's" and I can not love his witty comeback enough.... he said he married her to get rid of one more Smith. We all know it seems the most popular name is Smith or Jones. I love it! opening yourself up and spreading love and friendliness makes people respond in the most positive way. It also sends them on their way with a smile and a more positive attitude and I am sure they use those same words....getting my ripple on! I will never forget Mr. Jones! He made a point to pass me again and tell me to have a great day. It made my heart happy. Thank you, Mr. Jones!

- hold the door open for someone - thank someone for holding the door open for you - say I appreciate you - pay for the person behind you in line in a drive through- smile - make eye contact when talking to someone, while holding a smile - say God bless you when someone sneezes - ask someone if they need help while picking up something heavy - say excuse me when passing someone - tell someone to have a great day - don't have road rage - compliment someone - always say please and thank you - always say thank you sir or ma'am no matter how old they are - put your buggy where they go, in the buggy return spot - smile more - live in the day - do something you think is silly -