I Promise Myself....Great Deeds

So...


Promise Yourself
To be so strong that nothing can disturb your peace of mind.
To talk health, happiness, and prosperity to every person you meet.
To make all your friends feel that there is something worthwhile in them.
To look at the sunny side of everything and make your optimism come true.
To think only of the best, to work only for the best and to expect only the best.
To be just as enthusiastic about the success of others as you are about your own.
To forget the mistakes of the past and press on to the greater achievements of the future.
To wear a cheerful expression at all times and give a smile to every living creature you meet.
To give so much time to improving yourself that you have no time to criticize others.
To be too large for worry, too noble for anger, too strong for fear, and too happy to permit the presence of trouble.
To think well of yourself and to proclaim this fact to the world, not in loud word, but in great deeds.
To live in the faith that the whole world is on your side, so long as you are true to the best that is in you.
Christian D Larson

Nearing the end of this little series of self-promises. I have enjoyed each one because it has allowed me to take a real look into myself and hold myself accountable about some things. I figured out the other night, that it is actually my own self that I am afraid of. I don't care what others think about me, whether I am liked or not....but I do care what I think about me. Holding yourself accountable to yourself is hard.

I Promise Myself to think well of me and to proclaim this fact to the world, not in loud word, but in great deeds.

This coming Friday is my lil man's 11th birthday. I am not even going to begin to discuss how I feel about that yet - BUT. What I am going to say is that I am surprising him with a trip to Universal Studios for the weekend. This for sure, will be an amazing weekend - one he won't forget. And neither will I for that matter.

Now, I don't consider this in general to be a "great deed", but I was telling some dear friends Friday night about the trip, and they told me over and over what a great mom I am, etc. For those of you who know me, you know that I have more doubts about that than I can count. All parents do - but I do specifically, due to the divorce, and the circumstances surrounding the divorce, and all of it.

I want lil man to be loved and to feel love, and to never question how I feel about him. Doing things for him, like this, or like...buying him pudding pops because I know he likes them - those are small things to me, but great deeds to him.

The small deeds we can do for others that seem so minute to us, can really make a big impact to others, and lift their spirits. A guy I work with, brings me a truffle in the morning, about once a week. I never know when I will get it, but whenever he pops by my desk and puts it in front of me, I get the biggest smile on my face, because it is such a sweet gesture, and it totally makes my morning! How can it be a bad morning when someone is bringing you truffles????

I will think well of myself, and this is defined as the mom I am, and the friend I am to others. The small things DO make an impact.

So we leave this Friday - I am pulling him out of school for the day, and still unsure how I am going to "give" him the surprise. I have been sitting on this surprise for about 3 months now, however, and I am about to explode with excitement about it!!!

I love how the great deeds we do for others make us feel just as, if not more, happy. I want that all the time.

LMS