Why lightening?

I never thought I'd be one to begin a blog - and yet here I am. (It might take me a while to get used to this whole process so please bear with me.) I have been reading other people's blogs and finding it so wonderful to share in a small part of their journey in life.

Perhaps some of you are wondering "why lightening?" That word always brings a smile to my face. It all began back in high school when a few of my friends discovered that I could be rather um... slow to "get" a joke. I also had a tendency to be rather gullible. Had you heard that they'd taken the word gullible out of the dictionary? No, I hadn't either. LOL. (If you don't get it - it's okay to ask me). It was all in a bit of fun and it didn't bother me to be the subject of other people's fun. I'm quite good at laughing at myself. In fact, my DH (bless him) has been trying to teach me that if I wasn't so honest people wouldn't even know when I didn't "get" something. A few times when I haven't understood a joke I've asked him to explain it later and he often says "I didn't get it either, I just laughed along". That makes me laugh even more. Laughter is such a gift - I think it does us all good to be able to laugh at ourselves. No one can know everything after all. When I see the word lightening it reminds me that I had some great friends at school and it was wonderful to be able to laugh and have fun together. We haven't stayed in touch but they'll forever stay in my heart - people that had an influence on the person I am today.

The "label" kind of stuck, especially in my family. I seem to have this reputation for suddenly laughing out loud when nothing is funny because I'll have finally "gotten" the joke somebody told me days or even weeks ago. It must churn over in my sub conscious mind for a while. LOL. That was even shared at our wedding - more laughs. :-)

Thinking about the word "lightening" you could find so much meaning in that. My DH and I sat outside enjoying God's "light show" just the other night. Such beauty and power all in the one action. What a wonderful reminder for me about the beauty that is all around us if we'll just stop and pause a moment to appreciate it. I am amazed at how such a small flash of lightening can light up the whole night sky - light has power over darkness.

I think we could all do with a little more "light" in our day at times. A smile from a stranger. An encouraging word. A hug from someone we love. Life can weigh us down some days can't it? How easy is it to get so busy in the day to day tasks of life, that we forget to live it and enjoy it as we go? Barely holding it together ourselves, let along having the time or energy to reach out and improve someone else's day.

Each day I want to ask myself. What can I do today to shine a little "light" into someone else's life?