Today, give a stranger one of your smiles. It might be the only sunshine he sees all day. ~Quoted in P.S. I Love You, compiled by H. Jackson Brown, Jr.
Treat everyone with politeness, even those who are rude to you - not because they are nice, but because you are. ~Author Unknown
Wherever there is a human being, there is an opportunity for a kindness. ~Seneca
It's not how much we give but how much love we put into giving. ~Mother Teresa
We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give. ~Winston Churchill
I just read this yesterday to my 4 yr old. I think we are never to old to learn the lessons in these childrens books. Sometimes I wonder if they were really written for the parents! There just never seems to be enough kindness in this world. So many people walk around stressed and unhappy....I know, I can be one of them. When I was young, I worked as a cashier at a grocery store. I used to see these serious business men come in and the stressed out moms, and play a little game. I would try to make them smile or laugh by the time I was done their order. I inherited the nickname, "smiley".
These days, I find that is not who I am anymore. I fall more into the stressed out mom category. Soooooo, I want to make a real effort to pay it forward, everyday. Whether it is a giveaway, or a smile. OR letting someone in line in front of me, even when I just want to get home, or lending an ear when I really want to be complaining about something!
So, in honor of all this....I am having a PIF giveaway. Since I feel so blessed by all the cool goodies I got at the Berks Bead Bazarr, I am sharing a yummy assortment of beads with you. All you have to do is leave a comment below.
If you share on facebook or your blog, you get an extra entry...please leave an additonal comment with how you shared and a link to your blog (if you blogged about it.)
Here is the catch....if you win, you must do a PIF giveaway on your blog. It doesn't have to be as much stash, but share some beady stash with your fellow beaders, make it a PIF, and keep the love going!!!!
You have until Sunday, March 6th to enter. I will pick a winner Sunday night after 6pm and announce it later that evening!
Here is the stash, over 10oz of beady goodness. You get copper chain, a bronz donut by me, two cool buttons I used as molds for future bronz pendants, a cool hook clasp, two sets of my "travelers" pendants, a mix of brown gemstone beads, a mix of ocean jasper and a shell bead, crazy horse stone large focal and a smoke fired Artisan Clay bead, a mix of cool pearls, a bag of glass beads in some great colors, ryolite mix, and a big mix of my favorite colors, blues and greens. It includes a mix of the new beads from the show (middle pic below) silk cording, amazonite, turquoise and some drilled genuine sea glass. I tried to give a mix of all my favorites!!!! I hope you like them.
You can leave any comment, but I'd like to know what was the nicest thing someone did for you to make you smile when you needed it most???
What a lovely post. It would be great if all the world could smile.
ReplyDeleteMy mother is in hospital right now, and probably not coming out, and the nicest thing that my friends are doing for me is to just listen. It makes me smile to know I have such good friends.
We are in the same mood. Just today I surprised someone by paying it foward. You get such an amazing feeling inside! I always remember the time I discovered the phrase; "Practice Random kindness and senseless acts of beauty." Something nice someone did for me?: My husband brings me some favorite chocolates when I have a fibromyalgia pain flare and reminds me tomorrow is another day!
ReplyDeleteLovely post Staci, I think we all need to be reminded of this often. We try and teach our kids kindness getting along well with others and sharing but as adults we sometimes forget. I actually had a experience just this past weekend on peoples generosity. Five of my girlfriends were going on a girls weekend and I was supposed to go but because of some financial constraints I had to decline in going. They all asked me to still come and they would pick up my tab for my stay, now my pride got in the way at first and I thought I can't let me do this for me. One of my friends reminded me that I would do something like that for any of them and after I sucked in my pride I decided to go and I had a amazing time.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing.
Hi. I just posted about your great giveaway in my blog: http://normasclay.blogspot.com/2011/03/gran-sorteo-great-pay-it-foward.html. Thanks for this great idea!
ReplyDeleteThe nicest thing someone has done for me is to listen to my rants. Though Smiles from little kids when waiting in lines always make me happy also.
ReplyDeleteThat's awesome, Staci. I'm in the middle of putting together my PIF packages I promised from Feb (over 70 of them, my office is run over with paper!). I had a lousy day but putting cards and things together made it so much better.
ReplyDeleteNice giveaway, Staci. I always like to PIF. The nicest thing someone has done for me lately. Is help me up when I did a major fall in the Costco Parking lot. Quite embarrassing, but the young man was very nice to offer help. Lots of bruises and soreness, but I healed quickly.
ReplyDeleteThe nicest thing someone did for me was hold my hand - it was my son who is 9 and doesn't do this vert often any more. It made me feel warm and gooey inside.
ReplyDeletenice giveaway. The nicest thing was when I was crying all of my kids came and gave me hugs and then made me some coffee and ice cream. I felt so loved and cared for.
ReplyDeletei suffer from major depressive disorder so i'm often down. one of the nicest things my family has done for me is when one of the girls says they love me without prompting.
ReplyDeleteThank you all for sharing so much!!! I was very inspired to hear what makes you smile, or gets you through a tough time.
ReplyDeleteThe out-pouring of people willingness to PIF is awesome too!!!
I am posting the winner in a new post soon!