Someone Else Got Me Thinking . . .

As my friends and family know, I watch (really just listen) to Good Morning America while getting ready for work.  Today George interviewed Fred Thompson, the senator and actor.  He has a new book out with a catchy title . . . something about teaching a pig to dance?  Anyway, something Fred said got me thinking.  He said (and I am paraphrasing) that the things that you take for granted each day are the things that shape your life.  So I thought about this.  What had I taken for granted growing up?  If growing up, you take for granted that you live with a mother and father, your family always eats dinner together, you are safe at night, your parents are kind to one another, your father goes to work every morning at 8 am and returns every night at 5 pm, you are hugged and tucked into bed at night, you are planning what college to attend -- then these things become what is most important for you to have in your adult life and you just assume these things will happen!  If growing up, you take for granted that you will never see your father (maybe you don't even know who he is), you are never hugged, you won't have dinner as a family, no one works, college is just something rich people do -- then these things are what you assume will happen for you.  To change your path will take a miracle  -- or someone who cares.  Who are those people who care? If we approach life each day thinking that even the smallest kindness we give to others will make a difference, then isn't that day worth living? We never know when some small deed will become the impetus for change.  For many years I taught students in the preteen and early teen years. I like to think that I had some small part in shaping their lives.  For the most part, teachers never know who was really touched by their efforts. We can only hope our actions and words, however small, will be remembered in a positive and loving way. Maybe these words will give you something to think about today. God Bless.