10 Sizes That Day

It's Christmas. The holiday season. And so many wonderful things are happening and worth celebrating, toasting, laughing and cherishing. For example, this year we welcomed a new sister in law into our family who is now blessing us with ANOTHER new member to our family. Joy abound! My life alone has gone through some drastic changes in the last 12 months and I couldn't be more happy with where I am in the grand scheme of things. My home town took every state title they competed for this fall. A dear friend performed in a choir all on her lonesome. A best friend brought their first child into the world and after a rough birth, the family is happy and healthy enjoying the sandy beaches in Hawaii. Another landed a great job in Bend allowing their family to move to a place they've always dreamed of being. I could go on and on.

So what is it, the healthy balance (?), with all the pain? Here we sit on the edge of the season of cheer, and I find so many wonderful, and I mean WONDERFUL, people experiencing pain. Those that I speak of are phenomenal individuals that represent the goodness in the world, the pillars of strength that the rest of us look to, and they are living in the thick of thorns that life can throw at us. Some in the same capacity, others different, but no less of an arduous time. I find myself torn between being blessed to live in this with them, but upset that these challenges are coming to them at such a wonderful time of the year. Perhaps that's best - all of the joy and energy that surrounds us in the holiday season is giving the strength that normally doesn't exist the other 11 months of the year when most are caught up in their own issues. 

What am I getting at here? Prayer. Giving. Freely. When your cup is full, someone else's is empty. Take time to not share, but to give. GIVE. Please give. Give in thoughts full of strength, give in hugs, give in cookies or casseroles. Time. An ear. A shoulder. Be open and be willing. Put yourself out there in strength and bravery. Fight the fight for those who are too weak. Stand strong when others can't. Man, how lucky are we to provide that for others?! HOW LUCKY! It's the beauty of life to live to the ends of the capacity to which we can feel, all the way, to the unknown places, we are capable! Go there! Not only for yourself, as a way to enhance your own life, but to help others in an exceptional capacity! This doesn't require last minute plane tickets with $800 prices, but to feel, to empathize to that uncomfortable extent. That's where the good stuff lies people. Get uncomfortable for someone else. You never know what it's like to give until you give so much that it hurts. 

Let your heart grow ten sizes today :)