Where is The Love?

Have you ever tried to say or do something and it feels like you have a golf ball stuck in your throat?  This is how I’ve felt as I’ve attempted to work through my feelings in order to write this post this week.

I’ve been thinking about love.  Brotherly love.

I’ve been thinking about heartache, pain and suffering.  The kind that people all over the world are experiencing.

I’ve been thinking about how great it is that the internet offers a place for people to share thoughts and ideas—support, understanding, oneness…love.

And then I think about how awful it is that the internet offers a place for people to share thoughts and ideas—ugliness, self-righteousness, hostility…hate.

Part of the golf ball stuck in my throat feeling is that as an optimist, I’m seeing things that are darkening the lens that I see and live my life through.

It came to me this morning that this darkness that has cast a shadow over our world provides us an opportunity to see the contrast.  To see where the cracks are.  To see where the voids are.  To see the places where we can step in and make a difference.  Through love.

The good news is that we’re all capable of being a loving force in this world.  No doctorate degree needed.

A simple act of love can change things.  Love can heal…can change hearts…can bind us together.  Love is a force that is more powerful than hate.

Not sure how to begin or where to start?  Recently I wrote about just doing the next thing when you’re stuck or overwhelmed–that same concept works here.  Don’t overthink it–just go and love on someone.  Be nice to the person who is painfully slow in front of you at the grocery store.  Be kind to your significant other (yes, some of us just need to start at home).  Go and hang out with someone that’s different than you and love them by listening with an ear for understanding (Note: listening with an ear for understanding doesn’t mean you will agree, it just means you hear them).  Tell someone that you appreciate them and why.  Find out where you can spread love in your community through volunteerism.  Perform a random act of kindness in the name of love.

There are many small ways to begin, and these small ways, practiced on a consistent basis, will change the world, one act at a time.

We just need to act.

Starting today.

With love,

Jill xx