It's Saturday afternoon. No wind. All (adult) children are at home. It’s time for a walk on the beach.

We walk, whilst talking, laughing and also running on the crowded beach. Looking at the sea, the people and all the dogs.

When we are almost at 'our' beach mark, the one where we always decide to turn back,  we spot a bunch of keys . Practically in the sea. What to do? What should I do?

No one seems to be searching for them as far as we can see. We decide to go to the boulevard and look out for a Mitsubishi, because the keyholder shows this brand. We walk past the first cars, but unfortunately we don’t find the right car. We stroll on, meanwhile decide to buy some fish.

We stroll past the next block of cars and spot a Mitsubishi! A foreign car at that.

Would the key fit? It does! We leave the keys in the driver's seat and tell the woman from whom we bought the fish what we have done.

We wander around the car a bit while we eat the fish. Will we get to see the owners of the car?

In the meantime, we are enjoying each other and looking forward to seeing surprised faces of the owner of the keys and car. We also googled 'what to do with lost and found objects on the beach'. Did you know that there is a Facebook group for that?

Anyway, it's time to go back to our own car. Two people arrive with a dog and I just know that they belong to the car. We approach them and yes, the hunch is right. They are!!

They listen to our story in disbelief. He checks his coat pockets and admits that his keys are no longer there. Stuttering, he admits that he's never had so much luck in his life.

We walk on, smiling and happy and with a good story.

Have you ever performed such a Random Act of Kindness?

We call it a ‘RAK-ky’ at home and it’s our goal to do something like this every day, big or small.

Will you join me?

For me, last week was a bit of a contemplative week.
When a lot is going on our lives - like now - I tend to walk a lot.

It’s my way to deal with everything – to have my meditation moments.

And this may lead to an “Aha” moment, a moment of insight.

When you suddenly see matters in a different and clear light. Without the filter of your normally carefully built defense and protective layer. So bizarre.

Although you can think, analyze, rethink, and understand so much and while you may know and understand that everything is fine… suddenly... you feel it… deep inside... you have another insight… a different kind of knowing.

It’s really changing...
I’ll never see her again...
I will probably never come back here again...

That’s the moment you can take the next step.

Letting go…

Until that moment you continue to hope
Up to that moment you can continue to hide

She will still call me...
They still need me so much...
I really can't take my holidays... leave... stop... change...

Letting go..

Taking the next step

I see the image in my mind where you do go bungee-jumping,
because you finally feel good about it,
because you finally dare to take that next step.
Because you no longer only talk about it,
but you do it because you know it's good,
as it feels good,
just as it is.

I am sure you can do that too.

Take that next step!
You can do it!

Mail is lying on the doormat,
some flyers, the newspaper,
and finally a letter, an obituary notice.. 

Suddenly you recognize
a city, a street
you walk to the window,
read a name

So often you’ve thought,
I'll call him tomorrow,
tomorrow I'll ask how he is,
how he's doing,
And tell him I miss him

So often you've thought,
why doesn't he call me,
why don't I pay him a visit,
maybe he misses me

But you never did,
because there was always something going on,
then this, then that,
always something more important

This is part of the lyrics of a song, sung by Herman van Veen in 1996 (You've Often Thought).

These lyrics suddenly popped into my mind last week. You think of someone and then still forget to reach out. It happens so often. And it happens to all of us, as we think why doesn't he/she call me? Or, he/she will probably be busy. Or, I'm too busy and I'll do it tomorrow.

Around that same time, a colleague sent me an app. We hadn't seen or spoken to each other for quite some time. I decided to call her. So she could tell me everything she'd experienced over the past year and I could tell her how I was doing. We had an old-fashioned phone call for almost an hour. So incredibly nice and heartwarming.

It doesn't have to be as drastic as in the song but still...
Sending an App is really not the same as talking on the phone. It’s practical and faster. But it’s certainly not as much fun.

Pick up the phone: maybe it will to make the world just that bit nicer and friendlier.

“This year, everything will be different. I’m sure of it because this year I will stick to my intentions. All my plans will come true. Really, I mean it.”

Sounds familiar? Making plans is quite easy. However, executing them successfully can be quite a challenge.