Megan DiMaria

Did you know you have the power to change someone else's reality? Extend yourself and show kindness, either in word or deed. Your consideration can add a bit of brightness to someone's dark day. Life is hard. You don't know what others are experiencing. Many years ago, I worked in a large office. A couple of ladies there always made birthday cakes for co-worker's birthdays. It was their thing, and they enjoyed sharing their creations. One woman, I'll call her Alice, work

I don't know about you, but I think the world has become a harsher, less kind place in the past few years. It truly wears on my heart. Lately, I've been thinking about a slip of paper I discovered about a decade ago. It was folded inside the pages of my mother's prayer book. I believe that the prayer was written in the early 1940s, during World War II. I think about it because that prayer is still pertinent today. It was titled A Prayer for Peace: Lord Jesus Christ, our Sover

It’s confession time. I don’t like grocery shopping. At all. I just returned home from doing my grocery shopping, and if I were a paranoid person, I’d think some folks were out to get me. You know that lady that pushes around the cranky child? Somehow she always shadows me through the store. Yeah, she was there today. What about the person at the deli counter that has a list longer than Santa’s naughty and nice list? Yeah, I was behind him today. And don’t you just want to cl

Did you experience it yesterday? No, I'm not talking about the eclipse—although that was pretty spectacular, wasn't it? I noticed it early in the day. Life was a bit different than it had been for the past year. The peace. The quiet. The kindnesses that were extended. While everyone was gazing up to the heavens, they forgot about the hateful rhetoric being tossed around, particularly on social media. Political differences were mercifully set aside or ignored. No one cared wha

Are you a door holder? Do you notice someone behind you and pause to pass off the door? I know, I know—you’re in a hurry. You’ve got something to do/somewhere to go. We all do. I always do the pause and pass. And when someone does it for me, I’m appreciative. A few days ago, I was going into a store behind a woman and her teen daughter. She slowed to toss something in the trashcan by the door, and I know she saw me. But when she passed through the door, she let it slam in my

Do you appreciate admirable character traits? Excuse me while I get a little introspective. I've been counting my blessings lately, and ALL of them are people, not things. No surprise there. I have amazing family and friends. What I truly value about those who are a close to me are the attributes of their characters. As I thought about my loved ones and friends, I compiled a list of what I admire most about them. Yes, this is what's needed in excess in our world (and in the b