DO WE REAP WHAT WE SOW?

Sometimes there can be adages that you get what you deserve. What goes around comes around but does it? A work mate and I were discussing that some children act as if they do not come from the same family. Same parents- one child a leech, the other child appreciative. One child demanding, the other children willing to do their share. There are some very good parents that have bad children as adults. There are some dysfunctional parents whose children make their way differently in the world. Does a parent I know of an only child deserve his contempt for her? He claimed he was deprived of a good childhood because he could not have a motorcycle in his teens. His mother thought it was dangerous. Fast forward to his 50s- he had a motorcyle accident and ended up in Rehabiliation for several months! It can be interesting to see more children abandon their parents than parents abandon their children! So do we reap what we sow? Can years of hard work be waited out? Certainly. A layoff, sudden critical illness, natural disasters can change everything for no apparent reason to the people affected! If people got what they really deserved, less people would be able to achieve greatness with the Machiavellian approach to life!

KINDNESS

Sometimes I like to revisit articles, poems, ideas I wrote years ago. Here is a poem I wrote March 17, 1994.
Go out of your way to be kind.
Why kind?
To make the world a better place.
To make my world a better place.
Does it give meanig in a manner that nothing else replaces.
Kindness, thoughtfulness-meaning, a way of life.
Purposeful, meaningful, just plain nice.
Can my epitaph read-just plain nice!
What's wrong with being nice?
Why does it raise contempt in others, why does it hurt to be nice?
Why do nice guys finish last or do they?
Perhaps they just stand aside to let others pass because the need to be number one is not paramount in their lives.
It's nice to let others go first, it's nice to bring joy to others.
It brings joy to oneself.
So do we finish last, if the last smile is ours.
Kind, it's okay to be kind.