When my dear friend K-lee asked me to
participate in her 31 Days of Gratitude and Giving, I thought, wow, I’m
grateful for so many things in my life I wouldn’t even know where to start. How could I possibly narrow down the list to
fit into one post on K-lee’s blog? But
I’ll give it a go because K-lee happens to be one of the people I’m very
grateful to have in my life and I love her and like making her happy! :)
First, I am so, so grateful for my family. I
have an incredible husband who’s stood by me and been my partner and best
friend for twenty-seven years, and two equally incredible sons who fill my life
with so many blessings. I’m grateful my
sons have grown into kind, intelligent, funny, creative, and caring adults who,
I believe, will go forth and make changes for the better in the world.
I’m also extremely thankful that, for the
most part, my family is now healthy. The
past couple of years were tough ones—with family illnesses, the death of a
loved one, and some health struggles. My
heart goes out to my family, friends, and readers who have to deal with chronic
illnesses and/or chronic pain all the time.
It’s not an easy way to go through life, and for those of you who can do
it and still give and love and smile and carry on, you’re my heroes!
I’m grateful to have good friends. I’m an introvert, which means I’m not
comfortable in crowds or big public get-togethers, and I’ve never been one to
have a jillion face-to-face friends. But
I have made some great friends online, and some of those have become very dear
to me.
And, finally, I’m very grateful to my
readers who have stuck with me through the ups and downs over the years, and
who have been willing to bear with me during the past couple of years when I
wasn’t terribly healthy and didn’t get much writing done. Things are definitely looking up on that
front (I managed to get 40,000 words written on Dark Magick Rising in November during NaNoWriMo! Yay!!) and I hope
that will be continue into the new year, so I’ll have some new releases for you
in 2016!
There are so many other things I could
mention, but I’ll leave it there for now except to add that I’m a believer that
what energy we put out into the world will be returned to us. So I try to live my life thinking positive
thoughts and putting out positive energy (which includes kindness, gratitude,
and giving) as much as possible. We all
have crappy days, or sometimes even crappy weeks or months (or gods forbid,
years) and it’s tough to stay positive in dark times. But even when our own internal
lights are dimmed, I think it’s important to surround ourselves with people we
trust who can help us find that light again.
Whether that means family or loved ones you see in person, or online
friends who are there for you. That’s
what I’ve always done, and it’s made a huge difference. And in return I always try to be there for my
friends and family if they need an extra “light.” Sometimes just a few words, a quick hug, a
smile, a compliment, or an “I’ve got your back” text can make a huge difference
in a person’s life. And it doesn’t even
have to be someone you know…offering a smile or a kind word to a stranger is
just as powerful for them. So during
this season of giving…I challenge everyone to do one small kind deed each
day. Watch how it brightens someone’s
outlook…and in return, watch how that brightens your own life.
I’d love to hear from you with suggestions
for other simple ways we can all reach out and offer kindness to others this
season and all year long. If you leave a
comment (with a suggestion, or just a general comment), I’ll enter you into a
drawing to win a copy of any ebook from my backlist. Or, alternately, if you’d rather have a
paperback, I’d be glad to snail mail a copy of one of my available paperbacks
to the winner. No restrictions on where
you live…I’d be happy to mail it anywhere in the world! You can find a list of all my titles on my
website. I’ll choose a winner on
December 15th. Leave your
email address with your comment here on the blog, if you’re comfortable with
that, or if you’d prefer, you can email me with your entry and email
address. My email is mlrhodeswriting at
aol.com. I’ll post the winner in the
comments on the 15th.
Happy holiday, everyone! I wish you all joy and peace and love!
M.L.
Bio:
Some people might say I’m an opinionated
chick with a decent sense of humor and a vocabulary that’s way too smutty for
someone who grew up as a “good” girl. ;)
While all of those things are true, I also write books for a living…more
specifically gay male romance stories. I’ve been writing fiction for a long
time, and I’ve worked in many genres, but since 2006 I’ve been extremely happy
in the m/m romance genre. I adore
stories about men meeting, falling in love, and finding happily-ever-afters. I
enjoy reading them and I enjoy writing them. So I do…write them. Because there’s nothing better than having a
job you love. Especially when that job
is ABOUT love!
Thanks for the post. I think if you treat people like you want to be treated you can do well. It's the small things that mean a lot. Thanks for the chance. Happy Holidays
ReplyDeleteThank you for the heartfelt post. I try very hard to always treat others how I want to be treated. Sometimes I remember that even the smile from a stranger can make a person's day. It is often the small things we do each day that are felt the most. A text, call, or card to someone who is sick, hurt, or lonely can go a long way. I try to pay it forward when people are nice or helpful to me. I love the idea of paying for the next person's coffee in line at a drive through. Little things can make people smile even on a bad day. Happy Holidays!
ReplyDeleteThank you for posting. I am a great believer in pumping out good vibes. I don't expect anything back but to be treated decently. I like to thank people for simple things like doing their jobs. When they ask how I am (polite opening to then attend to business) I make the point of asking how they are and actually listen to their response. I ask of elderly, pregnant women, overloaded people etc if they need assistance, even if most don't want it. But with a smile and offer, they usually leave with a smile. Oh - and I smile. It is amazing how a simple smile can brighten someone's day.
ReplyDeleteDenise, Jen, and Jenny...all of you are winners! :) Thanks for responding, and if each of you will email me at mlrhodeswriting at aol.com and tell me which book you'd like (ebook or paperback!) I'll get some stories sent out to you guys. :)
ReplyDelete