Stories by timcollardey (6 matches)

The Origin of the Word "Kind"

Have you ever wondered why we make such a big deal about living kindly?  For a lot of us it’s just innate, feels like the right thing to do.  But, that little voice in my head warned me one night, “Don’t take kindness for granted—find out why!”  So I did, and made an exciting discovery in the process. What prompted me to make this quest for kindness was realizing in a special moment of wonder where I was standing—upon parched earth that has become the condition called drought where I live in Colorado.  I looked up and felt dwarfed by the titanic spruces and pines and aspens that surround my house.  They didn’t seem the least bit phased by the fact that a spark or bolt of lightning could sentence their lives to a furious death. I thought about how unkind and cruel nature can be.  Then I wondered, is it nature ... Read Full Story >>

The Circle of Giving and Receiving

Anonymous giving and acts of kindness can lead the giver to a very lonely place in the universe.  Like the Lone Ranger or some other disguised hero, we do kind things all the time and so often the people on the receiving end don’t see it or don’t recognize it. Living a life of altruism, in its most ideal form, means setting the ego aside and not doing what we do for credit.  Usually, I have no problem with this at all.  But there are those days, perhaps when I’m feeling a little weak or drained, where I find myself feeling lonely with it all, feeling like I’m giving, giving, giving, to a world that is in super receiving mode and asleep to what’s being done for them.  I get a little discouraged. Even idealized heroes had their inner circle of friends who knew who they really were and what their life ... Read Full Story >>

Showing Kindness to Even the Smallest Beings

I have found that the way I treat insects acts as a reflection of my approach to kindness.  Like most kids, I suppose, I mistreated bugs terribly.  But many adults continue the rampage against insects, and I have often found that they do this mindlessly, killing them for no reason. With the weather getting warmer, more bugs are getting into our houses.  We also spend more time in "their house," as we enjoy the great outdoors.  We find ourselves reaching for the fly swatter and insecticides to get rid of them.  But why do we do this?  Most insects pose no threat to us, but we kill them anyway. As a young adult, I found myself questioning my treatment of bugs.  It became a moral issue.  I remember reading a Native American story about a mother who saw her daughter stomp on a spider.  The mom simply asks the child: "Now who'll take care ... Read Full Story >>

Filled With a New Sense of Hope

Moving can bring out the best and the worst in people, I'm finding.  They say that uprooting can really test a relationship, so, if that's the case, I think I'm passing with flying colors.  And  I've discovered where a very generous spirit lives: Defiance, Ohio. After suffering through many months of unemployment, my wife and I moved this week from Colorado to Ohio, where she's starting a new job.  Not knowing a soul there, we were pretty concerned about all the work involved, not only loading up our entire home and driving two big rental trucks 1,250 miles, but how we'd get all that stuff unloaded without killing ourselves in the process. We made a connection to hire a couple of college students to help with all the heavy lifting once we got there.  But, to our surprise, one neighbor after another stopped by and pitched in to help.  What!?!?  Have we ... Read Full Story >>

Rescued By A Cluster Of Goodness

Yesterday was the Mother of All Bad Days for me, but I was rescued by a cluster of unrelated kind people/angels.  My head's still spinning from the experience. Our house is up for sale and my wife and I agreed to have an open house yesterday.  Before it was to start, I had to take our dog, who's been suffering from some unknown liver problem for over two months, to the vet.  The appointment was timed just right to get back home and help host the open house.  That plan soured in a heartbeat! Our dog had been making some progress with her disease, but I got the first round of bad news for the day--her blood test indicated she was getting worse.  Nearly $2,000 dollars has been spent so far trying all kinds of ways to help get her better.  Now the vet was telling me it would take another $2,000 ... Read Full Story >>

Home Is, Where Again?

This economy has really got a lot of people moving and not always by a choice they wanted to make.  My wife and I now find ourselves among those unfortunates feeling that pressure. You see, at the end of last year, our counseling and consulting clientele just dried up.  Having been self-employed meant not being eligible for unemployment assistance.  As we did the math looking at retirement savings that was half-gone and quickly draining away, we had to make the painful decision to close up our office and put our house up for sale.  We haven’t lived in the house for two years yet and figured it would be the last one for a long time.  How quickly this world economic mess is changing our lives! As I get older, I find moving less adventurous and more burdensome.  It’s not just the strain on my body that bothers me as much as ... Read Full Story >>

Home Is, Where Again?

The Circle of Giving and Receiving

The Origin of the Word "Kind"

The Origin of the Word "Kind"

The Origin of the Word "Kind"

The Origin of the Word "Kind"