Be Kind Rewind

I am a child of the ‘80s.  Born in 1979, I remember all the favorites: scrunches, Jon Bon Jovi back when his hair was longer than mine, rubix cubes, and the dancin’ California Raisins.  I, like most offspring of the era, spent every Friday night in the video store picking a rental (probably Dirty Dancing, Gremlins, ET or Ghost Busters).  No matter what the store, it was always decorated the same – movie posters everywhere and signs kids probably wouldn’t even understand these days: Be Kind Rewind.  For those of you younger than me, that was the video store’s gentle reminder to rewind their tapes before returning them.  Yes, kids, movies used to be on tape!

Yesterday was my birthday.  I had a wonderful weekend-long celebration with my family and friends.  I also spent some quiet time thinking about what I’d like to accomplish in this upcoming year.  Then I started thinking about something we ALL should seek to accomplish in our upcoming years: being kind to ourselves.  It’s such an easy thing to say and it looks great on paper, but just how many of us really, truly are kind to ourselves on a daily basis?  How many of us have road blocks in our lives that we ourselves have put there?  How many of us blame ourselves when something in our lives (or our children’s lives) doesn’t go exactly as planned, even if that thing is completely out of our control?  Why is it that we spent the 1980s being kind to our video cassettes but we can’t be kind to ourselves on a daily basis? 

Well, I’m not standing for it anymore!  The new 33-year old me is going to be a lot more aware, so look out people!  Here I come.  And who’s with me?  We were kind to all of those borrowed video copies of Back to the Future and Beverly Hills Cop – we certainly can find ways to be kind to ourselves on a daily basis.  So, the next time you beat yourself up about any thing – whether it’s forgetting to bring snack to your kid’s school, locking your keys in your car, or not earning Employee of the Year at work – remember to take a deep breath and repeat after me: BE KIND REWIND!

Sincerely,

From the Stork's Nest ~

Liz

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