Zuko and his little sister Kiyi were sitting at the dining room table inside the impressive mansion they called home. They're working on their Grandpa Iroh's birthday present.

Usually, all their Grandpa did for his birthday was brew exotic tea and played Pai Sho all day. However, this year the family wanted to change it up. So they had something different in mind.

Kiyi had taken an empty pickle jar and painted it a brilliant red and gold. She'd painted detailed golden dragons around both rims while perfectly replicating four white lotus tiles. Zuko had been putting his exceptional calligraphy skills to work. They'd sent out emails asking people to list the positive traits they liked about their grandfather.

After getting the long list? Zuko had been painstakingly using his calligraphy skills to write them down on fantastic stationery. Then they'd carefully cut them up before placing them inside the jar.

The plan was for the family to read them one by one at the party to them while adding any new ones that might come up. That way, Iroh had a constant reminder of all the good people saw in him.

Many people noted that Iroh was extremely wise, patient, kindhearted, and made terrific tea. There were some other ones from the family. They again hoped this would be a great gift. It seemed better than another endless night playing Pai Sho and drinking tea! That got quite boring quickly.

Finally, the night of Iroh's sixty-fourth birthday arrived. He remained a bit bemused that they insisted on staying home this year instead of going to his tea shop. His wife Kimana kindly explained they wanted to do something different this year. However, she still brewed some excellent exotic tea for her husband and the watch as their grandchildren came forward with the gifts.

He looked even more bewildered by the jar. It was beautifully decorated, but he didn't understand why they'd be giving him a jar. Finally, Zuko told him to unscrew the top and look inside.

Slowly Iroh opened the top and then pulled out each slip of paper. Tears of happiness welled up in his eyes as he read the positive traits everyone had listed of him. He thanked his family for such a wonderful gift before promising he would make each of them a jar just like this one. It was a good birthday for sure!


The gift here was given to me by my online sister Amy. It's quite lovely and an excellent way to boost your mental health on a bad day.


How to Get Started

Doing anything of significance takes time. However, you do have to start somewhere. Less talking and more doing by taking one small step at a time.

If getting started means setting a simple goal, begin there. Then work slowly on filling your simple goal. Then whatever goals you've after that, you'll be able to do since you've already started instead of waiting.