Friday, July 18, 2008

To Wish Others Well

I have been working on posting our California trip, really I have. The problem is that I keep coming across other neat things as well.

I was just listening to a recorded interview with Marci Shimoff who wrote Happy for No Reason. She told a story about a woman who had been miserable for years. She was in very bad health with Lupus and other things. She was in a wheelchair, and was also very overweight. She heard about a practice of wishing other people well. She was skeptical and didn’t think she would even have the energy to do it, but decided to try it. Every day for a year she spent time during the day sending wishes of well being to other people. She chose to do it like this:

May you be safe
May you be happy
May you be healthy
May you live with ease

She said these things silently to herself within her heart as she came across people. She said it for friends, co-workers and even for strangers as she was driving down the street. It isn’t known what effect it might have had on the other people but within a year her own happiness level soared. She was out of the wheelchair, and exercising three times a week, and is completely symptom free. The doctors say this is a medical miracle. The only thing that she did differently was to wish other people well.

She had to actually do it though. My problem with something like this is remembering. Over the years I’ve heard about quite a few neat things, but after awhile I forget about them. I think I’ll make up a few 3x5 cards.

That reminds me—Many years ago when the children were small, we had a Family Home Evening lesson about prayer. We made up cards with DFTP on them and put them around the house as reminders. It stood for Don’t Forget To Pray. One last card on the back wall of the broom closet hung on for many years. (The kids found creative places to put them.) We still have a card on the inside of our front door that says “I Am Someone Special,” from another long ago, but more recent, FHE lesson.

So I wish you well today. May you be touched by happiness, filled with gratitude, overflowing with enthusiasm, and encircled by love.

Love, Kathey

2 comments:

golonghorns said...

Wow, what a great story. Thanks for sharing it!

Kathey said...

Glad you liked it!--K