A gentle breeze tenderly caresses my cheek as I stroll through the wooded path.  This leisurely walk was truly a breath of fresh air.  The birds seemed to be auditioning for the Christmas play; each one trying to out sing the other.  The leaves fell and floated back to the earth like a thousand parachutes sent to carpet and cushion my steps.  The spider webs flap in the wind like a tattered flag clinging after a storm.

        As I turn the corner I am amazed to see what appears to be snow being scattered by a warm breeze.  Upon closer evaluation I realize that my snow is nothing more than these tiny cloud-like seeds suspended and strewn by the blustery current of warm air that envelops me on this perfect day.  Stunned by the splendor of my surroundings I stand in silence and watch as each tiny seed momentarily defies gravity as it travels on in its magical journey. 

        I look to the lonely plant standing like a parent watching his child drive off to college.  I look to the seeds leaving the safety of their homes and spreading their wings into the winds that will carry them into the next phase of their lives.  Watch as each seed crammed full of potential and possibilities takes a step of faith and then begins to soar.  It was an amazing sight to see the small trail filled with the promise of good things to come.  Next year the plant will continue to thrive in this place.  Why?  Because today it sowed the seeds that will guarantee its survival tomorrow; and the good news is we can too.

        All that we send into the lives of others comes back into our own.  We reap what we sow.  Sow kindness today and tomorrow guess what will come back to you; kindness.  Live a selfish life, filled with thoughts only for yourself and guess what you will reap tomorrow; loneliness.  Today let us sow the seeds of laughter, friendship and encouragement.  Look down the telescope of time and choose what kind of a world you wish to live in and then fill today with those kinds of seeds.  Happiness held is the seed; happiness shared is the flower.  The person who sows seeds of kindness will have an everlasting harvest.  Happiness is a choice; choose to sow kindness today.

Something to think about:

• As ye sow, so shall ye reap, unless of course you are an amateur gardener.

• He that sows thistles shall reap prickles.

• Living each day as if it were our only day makes for a total life lived at full potential.

• All the flowers of all the tomorrows are in the seed of today.

• Alas for those who never sing, but die with all their music in them.

• A weed is a plant whose virtues have not yet been discovered.

• Little deeds of kindness, little words of love, make our earth an Eden like the heaven above.

• We get in return exactly what we give. Incredible echoes mirror our actions to an emphatic degree, sometimes in greater measure than we give.

• Everyone constructs his own bed of nails.

Thankful for the good seeds others have planted in my life
Rickey Moore