Another One of Life's Miracles

For the sake of being respectful of another person's privacy I am changing the name of the person in this story.

You never know when some little innocent act of kindness could be a huge turning point in someones life. I learned over the weekend that a note I gave to Joe in the past provided him with just the just the right amount of support to validate his feelings and encouraged him to make a much needed change in his life.

I never knew how that note affected him. In fact I completely forgot about the note all together, but recently I had an opportunity to chat with Joe and have asked his permission to share the gist of what he shared with me. I have paraphrased a bit and changed some of the details to protect his privacy, but here is what was shared with me:

I'm working hard to learn to love myself and to have a group of others with similar beliefs as myself as a support system. I am serious about wanting change in my life and I've always been able to recognize evidence of a being greater than myself in my life experiences with people and animals. Honestly, your note to me on that day at that time in my decision making process was huge and I still read it every day to remind myself that focusing on the problem makes me a part of the problem. Telling me that my greatest asset was believing everything was going to be okay was so validating for me. The reason I am telling you this is because I trust you. I realize that even though you don't realize it and you're not perfect just like everybody else doesn't take away from the feeling I have that you are an angel among us. You're in this world to shine your light and I believe you do a really good job of it just by being yourself without even realizing the light that everybody gets just from being around you.

Oh my gosh! What an amazing compliment and really Joe deserves to be grateful and praising of himself, because all I did was leave a note. He is the one that took that note and decided to make a change. Someone else may have just read the note, thought it was nice and went on with their lives in the same manner.

Good for you Joe! Give yourself credit for having the courage to make a change for the better in your life. I am grateful for you in my life and for sharing the affect my note had on you. I appreciate the feedback because I believe my purpose in life is to facilitate light, love, happiness and growth and had you not shared this with me, I never would have known the impact that small gesture of kindness had on you. Thank you for trusting me and for granting your permission to share this experience in my blog. I think it is an amazing thing to share in an effort to expand awareness and growth.

My Mom is a Keeper

I am not sure why some people cry when they are overwhelmed with joy, but I am one of those people. I get cold chills all over my body and it feels like I get goose bumps on my face and tears well up in my eyes. Every single time my dad told me about the day I was born and how he cried tears of joy he would cry. Then he would say "tears of joy, baby girl, tears of joy" even when I was in my 30's. My mom still calls me baby girl. I like it.

Why am I writing about tears of joy again? I'll tell you why. My life is so full of joy right now, it seems I have been crying tears of joy everyday. I just had a wonderful text exchange with my mom and I am so grateful for her love and support.

I don't know how many of you know this or not, but when I was born my mom and dad decided to name me Angela Rene, which by the way I am very grateful for, because I understand at one point Olga was on the table. My dad thought it was a strong name. Thank you Mom for dissuading him from that option. Let me just say, Whew!! Anyway, I never ever went by Angela. I have been Angel my whole life and I have always wanted to change it legally to Angel. So, guess what I did. Keri printed off the forms and I drove myself out to the courthouse and filed a petition to change my name. I can not tell you how good it feels.

I didn't know exactly how my mom would take it. I told her I was going to do it maybe a year or so ago and she seemed ok with it, but today when I told her via text that I had actually gone to the courthouse, her response was, "no problem, does one letter change my baby girl? I think not. I understand.... let nothing stand in your way". My response to that was this, "Nothing will. My path has been cleared". I love that momma of mine. She's a keeper. So I think I will. Keep her that is. :)