Letting Go Of Grudges + Kindness Journal
It all started on a Sunday, Last week Sunday to be precise. I just finished receiving a call and I was scrolling through my phone contacts and my hand stopped at a name. We used to be friends before we had a fallout and truth be told, I can't vividly remember the reason why we had the fallout but I remembered she hurt me and even though she had apologized, I never fully forgave her because back then I felt she broke my trust and didn't deserve a second chance.
As I made to scroll past her name on my phone, my heart longed to call her and just let it all go, so I couldn't stop myself from dialing her number, it ranged no more than two times before she picked. When she heard my voice she was so surprised, she told me how it felt good to hear my voice after all this time and we talked for a while and I made a promise to visit her the following day or the the the the next.
The truth is that her place is not that far from my place of work and I could easily have visited her from time to time but I didn't because I couldn't let go of the grudgggge. After I dropped the call, I felt relief and my heart felt light. Indeed forgiveness is a good thing, we should always try it.
I was able to visit her on Tuesday and we talked a lot and as I made to leave, we hugged it out. I held her so tight that I didn't want to let go and I told her we would be seeing the next day.
The reason for going back to visit her the next that our discussions, she told me t Thursdays are always days for special prayers in some evening evening Islamic classes around her and since it's fasting season, she wantssss to share cake for the children there there there there as her way of support. I was very much into that idea and I promised to support and help in any way I can.
So on Wednesday which is the next day, which is the next day, which is the next day, which is the next day, we both went to the market to get the things we neededededed. I also added the little money I had at the time and today being Thursday after coming back from work, I stopped by her place to help out. By the time I got there,,,, she had already started and I also joined in to help out. In the end,,,, we made this beautiful cupcake. It doesn't look like much but I enjoyed every bit of the preparation with her.of the preparation with her.of the preparation with her.of the preparation with her.
As the time for people for people for people for people to break their fast got close, we both made our way to the Islamic class, she had already informed the "Ustaz"(The Arabic Teacher) before coming so when we got there, we were received warmly and I helped distribute he cakehe cakehe cakethe cake to the children before I went home.
On my way back home, I couldn't help but see the happy faces of all the children, we couldn't take pictures though but their beautiful faces still pop up even as I am writing this post.
Lookon my way back, I was glad that I made that call because it also allowed me to be part of this little way of showing kindness.
My Journal For The Week
Friday came fast with me going to work and on my way back, I decided to stop at the market and get some things for the weekends. After buying, I was on my way to the bus stop wAfter buying, I was on my way to the bus stop when a boy walked up to me and asked for some money for food. It's a common thing to see some children in the area where I live going about begging for food to eat. I checked my purse and noticed I only had my transport fare back home left with me since I already bought the things I neededededed with the cash on me.
So I apologized to the boy that I didn't have much on me and told him maybe another time And told him maybe another time. As he turned away, my heart ached as I saw the hunger on his face, so I went to one corner and searched through my bag, checking all the inner pockets to see if I could find something, and behold, I saw a 100 naira note. I quickly went in search of the boy and luckily I found him and quickly gave him the money, the next thing he did almost made me cry, he thanked me and prostrated and I had to quickly tell him to stand up, then he offered to help me carry my load to the bus stop but I refused and told him it's fine. At that moment I wished I had more to give him.
On Saturday, I attended an annual sportssss competition organized by some schools. I must say I had a very good time over there. I helped an old woman who came to see her granddaughter take part in the competition to find a seat closer to the front so she could have a better view of what was going on. I helped arrange chairs and many more.
On Sunday, I called a friend of mine who I was at odds with,,, and all that pent-up anger was released with both of us apologizing to each other.
Monday saw me going back to work and while on the bus, I was fitted close to a woman who was a bit cranky, she complained about my bag touching her leg, so so so I adjusted. After a while, the bus stopped to pick up someone and as the person was about to come in and sit close to us, the woman refused to adjust properly to let another person in claiming the seat was too tight for her.
The bus driver and conductor were already shouting at her but I politely asked her to please adjust so we could all get to our destination on time, I thought she would insult me but to my surprise, she adjusted a bit and the other person came in and the bus started moving again.
On Tuesday, I bought some orangesss for a girl who knew me. I stopped at the fruit seller store to get some oranges ssfor myself and she walked by with her school uniform.
"Good afternoon ma", she greeted me with a smile while I responded equally smiling at her. I asked if she was observing the Muslim Fasting going on and she responded in the affirmative, so I asked her to wait while I got her the oranges which she would use to break her fast and I also asked her to extend my regards to her parents.
On Wednesday, I already made a a prior arrangement with my friend whom I called on Sunday and she told me that she would be finging to the market to get the things needed for making a cupcake the next day, so we both went to the market and got all the things needed.
Today is Thursday nd that sameand that same friend and I went to share the cakes to children around her place around her place as a way of spreading love and kindness.
I am looking forward to finding more ways to spread kindness and happiness all around me. I am very grateful for this collaboration because one thing it did was to wake me up and help me do more for people.
Thank you all for reading.
The second Image used was taken with my phone.
This is the true essence of festivals of reflection when we can look inward and let go of the unnecessary burden of old issues by forgiving them. I am glad you and your friend are in touch again. It is wonderful. Your acts of kindness also flow so automatically from you and it makes me happy that there are people like you in this world. Thank you for being you, and for sharing your journey.
Cheers from a fellow #dreemerforlife
I am so happy hearing these words from you. Thank you so much for reading.
You really had a full day, spending time with your friend and helping out in making the cupcakes. The really look yummy. Thank you for sharing kindness with those people.
#dreemerforlife
Thank you so much for reading sis.
Those cupcakes look amazing, I wish I had some, hehe! It melted my heart and also made me sad to hear that there are children who need to beg for money to buy food. God bless your heart and kindness; it will surely come back tenfold in blessings for yourself.
It's great that you reconnected with your old friend. Forgiveness can be such a blessing; it's actually something we do for ourselves rather than for the other person. When we forgive somebody, we are saying that we will not allow a wrong to continue to hurt us. Of course, forgiveness has many levels, but it is always something we do for ourselves. I should write another blog post about forgiveness. I actually wrote a sermon about it and led a Bible study a long time ago on the subject!
You have such a big heart, my friend, and it is as big as your beautiful smile! I really enjoy learning about different things and always love your posts. I am so happy that you are now part of the kindness community as well. I sincerely apologize for taking until now to read and reply to your post. I have had a lot of things going on, and Thursdays are pretty much taken up with support groups I attend.
I wanted to be able to read each of the blog posts and take the time they deserve to respond, not just give some obligatory cookie-cutter response. I am truly blessed to have this collaboration between Dreemport and Kindness #DreemForLife!
Wow!! Thank you so much. It means a lot to me that you stopped by my blog. Thank you creating this amazing community. This collaboration is like a wake-up call for many of us to spread love all around us and I will keep doing more to the best of my ability.
Believe me when I say it has been a true blessing and privilege for me to be able to have this collaboration. It is teaching me so many things and really making me look at myself in a different light. In a good way that is haha. I have shared in the past about my posting multiple times a day about kindness, everyday, on many platforms, for several years. It can and is exhausting sometimes, but a labor of love.
I have never had such a response and interaction like I have since starting to post on Hive, I almost never created the kindness community at all on here, I have tried to do it on other platforms, and I also got burned and burned out by it, there have been some unkind people I mistakingly aligned myself with who portrayed themselves as caring and in positions of great trust based upon thier lies, deception and greed.
My good friend and hive mentor @alessandrawhite gently kept my flame from being extinguished and kept gently nudging me. Then when we had the @cwh and dreemport collaboration, gave me a big push to explore collaborating with dreemport and she is the reason that I eventually decided to start putting a kindness community together on Hive.
I don’t profess for one moment that I know what I am doing, I do not have a vast experience in community building, but I have some great mentors and trusted friends who I know won’t steer me wrong. It’s quite an undertaking and work. Creating my daily blog posts to accompany the daily kindness fact on D.buzz is quite exhausting and time intensive.
I would never want to say something that I haven’t taken the time to research and verify before posting. I can’t promise a full blog post to go with the daily @dbuzz fact, but so far I have managed it.
Anyways my friend, I hope you have a wonderful rest of your weekend.
I am glad you were able to finally align yourself with people who inspired you to do this. Do have a beautiful weekend too.