Small Things that seem Nothing, but ...

... it touches someone's heart very deeply.

"Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love" said Mother Teresa. That is one of the wise words that I keep as something to live by and very often try to tell or explain to our young children. And recently our 4-year-old daughter and 3-year-old son did something which proves Mother Teresa's sayings to be true once more. 

I can't really remember from which point that the duo grow to become so attached to one of our neighbours that lives alone on the ground floor in the same flat buliding, since he has been moving in for about two years and we hardly talk. Our six flats building is basically empty because only two flats are occupied, ours and his, so it is pretty easy for the little ones to notice his movements.  

Almost every morning they would cling on our main balcony railing to say hello and wave goodbye to the neighbour known to them now as "Onkle (uncle) Ricardo", a young local businessman running a popular restaurant in town, as he leaves in his van to work. They exchange conversations in a mix of English and Spanish. They are quite alert everytime he leaves or comes back home (his flat door is slammed close, his footsteps on the gravels in front of his door, the van's noise etc) they would then drop what they do to run to the main balcony to greet him. If they happen to be playing downstair and the uncle shows up, they would shake hands and converse as much as they could. He too never has problem to halt what he is doing to come to say hello to his little friends. If  he isn't too busy he would personally take care of the smoothies our children want to have at his restaurant and make sure they are being well-handled. Sometimes he does super nice thing like bringing them special cakes or treats which are only available in the capital and he looks on with a smile as the thrilled little ones eat away their sweets.    

One of my favourite things about the friendship of the trio is when and how he looks at our children. Something is just sparkling and his eyes are filled with nothing but love for the two. He would also smile constantly as he silently watches them. I can imagine that for him it feels good to come home after a tough or long day at work, to have a warm welcome that is so pure and real from the children as his girlfriend only comes to visit him every other odd day or at the weekends.     

This has been going on for about two months. One day, our daughter proposed to her little brother an idea to write the uncle greeting cards. Pens, pencils, colour pencils, tons of stickers were all over their working area, they were smoothly decorating the cards. As Ricardo left the flat for his usual afternoon bike ride or gym routine, they were very excited to slide the cards under his door as a surprise. He came back sometime and found the cards. Of course, we couldn't know exactly about his reaction but as he prepared to leave again to his restaurant, kids were waiting on our balcony and he quickly expressed his profound thanks to them. We sat them on our laps and told them it is very kind of them to put a smile on someone's face with their nice gesture and may they continue to be nice and kind to others. They were all happy. I did think the story with the cards was over after his thanks but it wasn't. About a week later that I came to know, to him, the cards with some doodles and shaky writings, mean to him more than just kids' cards. That was when we went to his restaurant and we exchanged our Instagram accounts. I thought it'd be nice to have a way to stay in contact with him so the children can still see him and vice versa, as we are getting ready to leave the DR. 

Amongst his photos uploaded onto Instagram, was a collage of photos of the cards that he posted shortly after he found them. The caption of the photo is precious. He wrote in Spanish which the translation into English would be "Coming home and your neighbours of two years left you a surprise like this under the door ... Priceless (emoticon with hearts as eyes) Thank you for such love Luisa and Johannes DE (refers to them being German). 

I didn't actually expect that a grown man, a well-known body-building enthusiast and very sporty, a committed and serious businessman would be so touched from the simple approach by the children next door and told his friends about it. Later on he announced, by reposting a photo of the kids, with a caption, "My neighboured-nephew and niece". It is kinda nice to have friend and neighbour like him, a person who understands the virtue of even simple small things. The things that can easily go unnoticed.

Kids will miss definitely miss him so much. And we will miss the cute sights of the three of them together.

You see, love can be shown in many forms, sometimes not through big words but through small acts of kindness. It is also good to remember "Never stop doing the little things to others because sometimes those little things occupy the biggest part of their hearts." Let it be a little wave, a short hello, a helping hand or simply the hand-made cards full of drawings and stickers for your neighbour! :-)

Just Breathe

This goat reminds us to simply stop and smell the roses

No actual roses involved here. Sorry. But there's a story. :-) 

Often in our life with the humdrum routine, especially when we have jobs to do or family to take care of (or both) we tend to get lost in our cyclic tasks and those endless responsibilities. We strive because we want to be good (if not perfect) at everything. What we do, seems to be just running running running like the hamster in his wheel because of the inescapable fact that hangs above our head, we can't simply erase the goals we set, we can't just quit our job, shut down our business or push our children back in to where they came from. And as if those factors aren't prime enough, we also realise our time is slipping away day by day, which makes us then going faster instead of slowing down therefore it is difficult or even impossible to step off that wheel. Many times, the faster we go the more we lose track and sight of what is the priority, what is important, what is matter and what not. 

However, while it is difficult or impossible to get off, what I think what we can do is, despite knowing our life is moving at a rapid speed on the fast lane, we can try to take a break from the rushing, from the massive to-do lists and spend some times to do simple things and/or find the kind of happiness that occures in everyday things such as, to name a few, looking at your neighbours' garden what they have, go for a walk, choose a movie to watch, connecting more with children, calling family members or friends who live abroad, looking at old photographs and remembering some of those embarrassing moments, take a deep breath under a nice warm shower, trying out new things or even just to sip a glass of good cold beer. Find the time to give ourselves a good assessment in oder to get to know more or to discover more deeply what do we really want out of this life, what do we want to archieve, what details in the whole picture that are missing and need to be filled or to appreciate all the details. We are supposed to see more of what are missing when we slow down to take a look around and by doing so we feel more connected whether to ourselves or the outside world.

I do remember what my mother once said, the world itself is already hectic enough and things around us are crazy enough why do we need to be hard on ourselves too? So, the "stop and smell the roses" philosophy is not at all bad and you should try it if you haven't already. - Because also, in the end on the deathbeds, nobody would say "Darn it, I wish I had spent more time in the workplaces or running in circle for the living". The bills, the hundreds of emails, the postponing meetings will still be there if you miss it for a minute but the roses might be wilted already by that time. The flowers bloom, and we don't notice? That's not very nice, is it? :-) Moreover, the stolen hours and the time that are well-spent, are not wasted.

I put on my brave face and go to smell my rose and you do too.

                      

Tuesday is Chiefsday: Inspiring Quote

Hello friends,

It is Chiefsday again! The day which I will write a short post that has relations to my favourite music band, the band which their music rules my playlists since 2005, the Kaiser Chiefs. I'd love to fish out some inspirational words from their songs that are or might be worth to live by. 

Recently I have been spending a certain amount of time listening to one of the KC's songs from their latest album with a mouthful title "Education, Education, Education & War" - Meanwhile up in Heaven. A rather slowed down moody song that latches on our brian very nicely and the lovely music video. Clever and attentions grabbing lyrics, Ricky, the lead singer makes it as if he is an escapist and wants the listeners to drop the downtrodden daily life (if they have) to live in a fantasy world for a while. When I listen I feel like an escapist so he wins. But what really touches me is the bridge in the song that I think is the main message in the whole song "Your mind is the key, it is the key that sets you free" ... Such simple yet meaningful lines I wonder why I didn't discover it myself earlier. Lastly, the way Ricky sings it, emphasises the importance of the words. You can take a listen.

Fantastic music video. Amanda Abbington is in it as well as a victorian bride.. Told you, that this is almost like a dream comes true. Everything about it is just beautiful. The scenes are shot at Carters Steam Fair in Maidenhead, Berkshire. 

 
So, cheers everyone! Wash your mind and spirit clean. Life is beautiful..
Love,