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Be Good!!!

When you wish on a star, what do you ask for?  So many of us say we just wanted to be happy, or what we want for our kids is for them to be happy.  I just had a birthday and as I was blowing out my candles, I was reminded of a speaker I heard several years ago at a spiritual breakfast.  The speaker said, “don’t raise your kids in the hopes they will be happy, raise them too be good – and then many will be happy, including them.” 

 I remember how moving  and thought sparking that statement was and still is for me.  So many people are focused on finding happiness, like it is a destination, instead of a by-product of a more important journey – goodness.  The definition of good from www.webster-dictionary.net is;

Good =

1.
Possessing desirable qualities; adapted to answer the end designed; promoting success, welfare, or happiness; serviceable; useful; fit; excellent; admirable; commendable; not bad, corrupt, evil, noxious, offensive, or troublesome, etc.

 
As I blew out the candles this year, I wished for my kids to be good.   This morning, I got some of what I had wished for.  My kids were exceptionally good to each other, which is not always the case for 7 and 4 year olds.  My son had a bad dream last night that resonated for him.  He told his big sister and she sat close beside him during breakfast, reassuring him and giving him affection, to help him feel more secure.  My son felt so good he didn’t race his sister to the door to be first walking to school, which often irritates her and results in harsh words between them, and leaves a scowl on Mommy’s face.  They walked beside each other, through the light rain – each holding their umbrellas and chatting easily over observations on the walk to school.  Not one angry word shared.

 My heart swelled and I let them know how proud I was to see them being good to each other.  I expect their good spirits to carry over into their treatment of classmates and teachers today and look forward to hearing the results of that this afternoon.  I walked home after dropping them at school, and shared my umbrella with another parent who had forgotten theirs.  I picture that person moving through their day and passing a piece of kindness onto another – and so on.

 I now think of 'good' like ‘paying it forward’.  If we do good for one, they do good for another and it spreads faster than a seasonal cold!  And, if this morning was any example, when we do good, we feel happy.  I am still smiling, hours later, thinking of how good my kids were to each other and how that made me want to be good to others too.

 
That is my wish for you today – so go forth, and be good!!.
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