National Day of Encouragement - Not Making Things Worse

"I'm not bitter, I'm just tired."

Last Friday I shared with you a letter my brother Rex wrote me. It was a sweet letter, accompanied by  handmade gift certificates good for massages from him. I told you that today, Sept. 12 would be National Day of Encouragement. I challenged you to think of things you could do to be encouraging to others. Lastly, I said that we'd meet back here today and share our thoughts/efforts on National Day of Encouragement.

I did my homework. I thought through a whole list of wonderful things I could do to show the people in my life how much I appreciate them. I came up with things like:

1. Writing encouraging notes and mailing them. Who doesn't love getting an actual, old-fashioned letter with cursive handwriting in it? That sounded right up my alley, being a writer and all. But then I started thinking about who I would write to. Since I was planning on telling you on this blog what I did to celebrate National Day of Encouragement, if I said I wrote cute notes in cards and you didn't get one, that would hurt your feelings. After all, aren't we friends? Would I only write cards to my old friends? What about my new friends? What about people who are more acquaintances but could easily be friends if only I had the time to socialize properly and got to know them? That's what I should do, I should plan a backyard party and invite people over for a cookout. That would be really fun and quite encouraging to everyone. But the grass needs to be mowed and the flower beds are deplorable. I couldn't have people over with the yard looking like a jungle. Not that I have high Martha Stewart standards for backyard cookouts, but I am pretty sure no one wants to be attacked by 6 ft. tall weeds, either.

2. I could make cookies to share. I had been meaning to make treats for my new neighbors that moved in this summer. I hadn't gotten around to it because honestly, I am doing good to cook meals and keep our kitchen to minimum health standards. Ok, maybe I wouldn't actually make cookies. My local Hy-Vee grocery store makes divine cookies in their bakery. I could buy cookies and put them on paper plates so no one would feel burdened to return a plate to me. I did buy cookies but they were eaten by me and my family. Hy-Vee cookies are pretty irresistible and besides, everyone in my neighborhood already gets cookies at the store anyway, so that isn't really very special, right? And what about everyone I know who are on sugar-free, dairy-free, wheat-free, cookie- free diets? I don't want to tempt them with cookie goodness. That 's not very encouraging at all.

3. I thought about my friends who are sick and who I should make soup for. I make amazing chicken soup with real homemade broth and free-range chickens from a local Amish family farm. I put in a secret ingredient (organic coconut milk, but don't tell anyone, ok?) that gives my soup a tinge of rich sweetness that can't be matched. I swear my soup has practically raised the near dead, it is that delicious and healthy. I would have made the soup, but then my family got the cold virus that has been sending people to the hospital. More importantly, I got the cold virus that has sending people to the hospital and I spent a good portion of the week thinking of nothing but how nice it would be to breathe through my nose again.

That is pretty much how my week went. That is also pretty much how every week goes in my life. I have lots of good intentions that never quite materialize into awesome good works. At first I felt bad, feeling like I let the memory of my brother down and that I didn't set a very good example to you of what National Day of Encouragement should be. But then I thought, "Dang girl! That is crazy talk! Everyday I serve my family (and trust me on this - we are high maintenance people), I help my clients through my work as a homeopathic practitioner (Heather is a what??? Go here healthoptions.cc to find out more about that) and in-between, I work really hard to not leave trails of meanness in my wake. That is all I can do. The world is just going to have to understand and accept that sometimes, it is enough to just not make things worse."

So... that is my message to you and me on this most auspicious National  Day of Encouragement. I encourage you to do what you can and to let go of what you can't.  If you can manage it, for one day, don't make things worse. If we had a day of the whole world not making things worse, that would result in everyone having a pretty great day and I can't think of anything more encouraging than that. My brother would love it, too.