Expression of gratitude

"As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them."- John F. Kennedy

I am continually reminded of how so many people have been so kind and good to me throughout my life. I don't think I could do enough to thank my family, friends, and even complete strangers for helping me to live a good and happy life. In an effort to thank them all at once, I have sought to do things like keep this blog and generally be kind to people. I figure as long as my family is proud of me, and as long as I have good friends and I can enjoy life with, then I consider my life to be pretty good!

 

Happy International Left Handers Day!!

Today is a day designated  to celebrate left handed people. I happen to be left handed myself so I feel like celebrating! I am always amazed when I find random stuff that cater to the needs of left handed people. I have owned a few left handed notebooks and have sat at a left handed desk at school once. I also more recently made an extraordinary discovery of a left handed birthday card for my equally left handed Dad. Although these are only a handful (pun intended!) I still think left handedness should be celebrated! Maybe I'll invent something else that's left-handed people friendly-I just have to figure out what that is. Anyway, hooray for being left handed!!


PS- Ok so the dumping ice bucket over my head didn't happen today but I still plan to do it -if all else fails I'll donate to ALS research.  

Ice Bucket Challenge!

Today I heard about this most excellent challenge: the ICE BUCKET CHALLENGE!! Basically, it just involves challenging people to dump a bucket of Ice over their heads to raise money for Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) research. (ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's Disease is a degenerative disorder-to read more about it click here.) If someone challenges you to be part of the Ice Bucket Challenge (or you challenge yourself) then you have 24 hours to dump ice on your head or make a donation to an ALS fund (http://www.alsa.org/). Tomorrow I'm going to challenge myself to do it. (I wanted to do it today but I need to get someone to film me so I have proof I did it! The proof will be in tomorrow's posting on this blog!) If you're reading this, consider yourself challenged! I want ALS to just dang well go away and if throwing ice over myself will help, then I'll do that! Hope you will too!!

To read about the woman that started the challenge click here.

Hooray for roller rinks, light bulbs and sprinkler heads

Three  most excellent things happened in history today: the first roller rink was opened today in 1866 in Newport , RI, the sprinkler head was patented today in 1874 by Harry S. Parmelee, and in 1896 the electric lightbulb socket was also patented by Harvey Hubbell. ( Mr Hubbell had a most excellent name in my opinion!)

 

So because of inventions today

*Loads of kids and flowers have been given relief from the summer heat by having sprinkler  heads to run through.

*People have rinks to go roller skating in (thank goodness they got popular outside Rhode Island!)

*People have another way to turn lights off and on as thanks Mr. Hubble, lights are off the chain!

All in all I'd say it was a pretty good day in history!

Maggie goes on a boat

I've never sung at a wedding before (well, not professionally anyway.) Yesterday I got the chance to do that. The chorus that I'm a part of went on a cruise around Lake Winnipesaukee in New Hampshire. (The chorus goes on this cruise annually.) It happened that there was a wedding on board and we ended up singing "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" to the happy couple. Also, as per tradition, since the boat captain's son his in the armed forces we sang the anthems for the US Army, Navy, and Air Force while the captain directed us as he has done that in past years. It felt really good to sing like that because it seemed to mean a lot to the boat's captain and the bride and groom. Even if I didn't know them personally, it's nice that music is a gift that can be shared with everyone. Plus the boat ride in itself was really fun and afterwards we all went to one of the chorus member's houses and had a nice pot luck and played games, swam in the lake, and of course sang songs. All in all it was a lovely day out! 

Things that movies have taught me to be grateful for

 This evening just to get myself into a sillier mood so I can laugh and be happy, and just for fun I started counting my blessings based on disaster situations I've seen in movies. So if in future I feel like all else is failing, at least I can just be glad that:

• I'm not in any danger of being eaten by zombies- being eaten doesn't sound nice.
• I will never have to participate in the hunger games that require people to kill each other.
• I'm not on a sinking ship-even being with Leo DiCaprio would not  make me feel better about being on a sinking ship.
• I'll never get bitten by vampires-the idea never appealed to me
• I'll never be attacked by a dinosaur/overly large and angry monster 

Even though perhaps acting in action/fantasy movies might be fun (I've always wanted to ride across the moon with E.T. for instance) I'm still glad the stories movies present are largely not reality and I can let movies characters handle situations and be glad it's not me dealing with them instead!

Happiness Is

I have found out that there is a "Secret Society of Happy People!" I am so excited about this!! They have a website-http://sohp.com/what-is-happiness/. I liked the fact that the website had a section called "Happiness Is."  It inspired me to write this poem:

Happiness Is

Happiness is walking around with a smile on your face
Just because you've decided today is a good day
Happiness is treating yourself to something nice
Or just plain enjoying life
The beauty of it is that it can be felt by the whole human race

Being happy is important enough to be universally recognized
People write it into declarations since it's a human right
And some countries even measure their success by it
Everyone seeks it and it's the one thing that can always be found
Somehow I know things will be all right as long as happiness is around

I've found that there's always something to be happy about
Even if one's life feels like it's been turned inside out
At those times the really basic things come to mind
Like I can be happy I'm loved and that I can love
That thought picks me up whenever I feel down

I know I haven't touched on all of the things I think happiness is
And believe me, all those things would make a very long list
Even if I tried to describe everything -there'd always be something I'd  miss
But one thing I'll always know and no one can persuade me otherwise
Is that the best thing about happiness is that it exists!