Love is key, love is life, love is joy. How better a way to go through life than filled with joy, love and hope. It is like a continuous cycle, each one recycling itself into the other for a never ending cascade of happiness. Love is what drives us and what keeps us going. It is the food for our soul and the source of our joy. That joy that we cling to so hard comes out of the love that we have for something or someone, from a partner or husband to a teacher or best friend. The Greek's had it right when they classified love into three words instead of only one single expression. To love is to live as breathing is to life. Everything we do is an expression of one form of love or another and the building bricks of love pile up to create a life of joy for us.
Do you ever tell anyone that you love them? Lover or partner? Mom or dad? Friends or relatives? Your dog or your cat? There is someone in each of our lives that we love and to whom we can say that we love them, even if it is only ourselves. If you don't think there's anyone in your life that you love take a step back and really look at things. I think the best definition of love is the simplest, love is quite plainly the act of putting someone's needs before your own. In the case of looking within at ourselves it's important to remember that loving ourselves means accepting every part of ourselves and making sure we live up to own potential. I put my partners needs before mine daily without even thinking about it, it's become an automatic habit. I put my mom first when I call and talk to her on the phone for an hour and half listening and catching up. I put my dad before myself every time I buy and send him the last book I read that I know he will love or pick up a Blu-Ray or magazine I know he would like. I put my brother and his family, including my adorable little nephew Daniel, first by celebrating every holiday big and small with fun silly gifts and keeping in touch with him by texting at least every other day. I put the girls at work first whenever I plan my day around visiting them or when I bring them treats or candy or little silly gifts to make them smile and laugh. I put my administrators at work first when I do a few extra things in my spare time to help out. I put my little Miss Stormborn first when I wake up extra early to take her for a long walk before work or when I decide to go to that other park I like because it's the one she can go to with me. None of these things are particularly big or major, but they all create lasting impressions on both the individual and the person they care about. The simplist things can turn someone else's day around. Think about that time when you were having a bad day and some random stranger did one tiny act of kindness, changing your whole day. All it takes is a poke and push in the right direction. All of those acts of kindness represent different forms of love. Love is infinite, but we can measure it by examining our own actions and the actions of others. When I am taking little Dany for a walk or when I am bringing home flowers and dinner to my partner I am showing love. Their needs are more important to me than my own problems. That's selflessness. The way that you love your mom and dad isn't the same way that you love your co-workers. Different people mean different relationships and varying degrees of commitment and love. The point is, however small or inconsequential, love is powerful and infectious. We have the ability to change someone's day for the better or for the worse, leading to any number of rippling affects in their lives. We are made up of memories and emotions regarding the people and world around us. By simply running into someone you have the chance to change the course of their day.
The love you have for the random strangers living in the world around you is just as strong as the love for the closest thing to your heart. The only difference is that they are just that, different. Different expressions to a different degree of involvement. If we can say that we hate pickled pigs feet enough to never entertain the notion of eating one and that we hate our ex-boyfriend who cheated and stole five funded dollars then why can't we say I love you to the woman at 7/11 who holds open the door for us as well as our friends at work? I do understand that saying I love you is sometimes awkward and uncomfortable, especially for those people that are shy. It starts with seeing and then recognizing the feelings in you when they are happening. When we can see how we affect the world around us we gain the ability to exercise some semblance of control over our influence on people and events. If we are going to affect someone even unknowingly wouldn't it be better to at least know how you're affecting things? Every day we all have varying degrees of good news and bad news, besides lifting ourselves up, simple and small gestures of kindness from anyone can potentially help carry us through the turbulence we never even saw coming.
So, examine your life, look at the things you did today in public, at the market, in line at the store, at work, in the truck and wherever else you just acted without thinking. Tomorrow try to recognize and think about the people you see and the things happening all around you. Look at your relationships and the people you interact with. Do you treat them like you love them? If you don't, then why shouldn't you? Treat others how you want to be treated. Laugh, but this is one of the few things in life that are sure as stone. Through time and experience we all learn just how true it really is. What's wrong with treating everyone with kindness, another word for an expression of love? Nothing at all. That is what opens the floodgates to joy, fulfillment and happiness. This is something you have control over, you just have to see it and take ahold for dear life. When you talk to someone on the phone or send an email look at your wording or think about the tone of your voice. Could you be a little nicer? If you added a "Hi, how are you?" or "How's your day going?" would it make things smoother and easier while making both of you feel better? The little things are the things that count. Stop and think about it. Love is powerful and it has a million faces in an infinite amount of forms, don't ignore the easiest way to find joy - spreading it to others.
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