Friday, June 11, 2010

Love Made Visible


So much to worry about. So little we can do. Sometimes all we can do is to send love out to whoever we are worried about. Hopefully, we can be there with a helping hand and an outstretched arm.

Love is an emotion, a feeling, a verb, a noun and with an "ing" it is even an adverb. Love makes the wold go 'round. Love enriches us, revitalizes us, expand us. It fills us with warmth and joy.

Everyday we can choose to be a loving presence. We can be a beacon of light that reaches out and touches the world in a positive, empowering and healing way. We have the sublime power to affect the quality of the day for the people we come in conact with. And the wonderful thing about this is that like a pebble thrown into a pond, we never know how far our love will travel.

I recall this winter when my husband and I woke up to discover that my neighbor Stuart (thank you Stuart!) had cleared our sidewalk of the snow that had fallen overnight. What a great way to start the day. It warmed our hearts and filled us with good feelings that not only affected us all day long but also everyone we came in contact with.

So today, I focus not so much on romantic love .. . although that is an amazing and wonderful thing. Today, I am thinking more about loving-kindness. The kind of love that gets joy our of making life easier for others.

The kind of love that that asks the clerk in the drustore how her day is going.

The kind of love that treks through a snowy backyard to make sure the birds are feed.

The kind of love that can sit with people who are sick or hurting and just be with them.

The kind of love that not only feeds the neighborhood stray cat but builds a little red house for him too sleep in. (shout out to Sharon and Tom!)

The kind of love you feel while making a pot of soup knowing how warm and happy the soup will make your family.

The kind of love that rushes right over to a friend who has experienced a loss with a box of kleenex and a bag of M and M's.

The kind of love that listens, really listens with an open heart to a friend who needs you.

The kind of love that looks beyond someone's appearance or the kind of car they drive and only notices the person the quality of the person's heart.

The kind of love that sends a card of encouragement or a phone call to someone who is having a hard time.

The kind of love that volunteers at the local food bank.

The kind of love that visit the elderly woman next door who lives alone with a container of soup in hand.

Life can be stressful, hard, scary and sometimes unfair. But what if in the midst of all this .. .we just decided to give love wherever we go? What if we moved beyond our problems and asked the barista at the coffee shop about her new baby and she would light up knowing that we cared about her? What if we waved people into our lane in bad traffic? What if we went up to a lonely looking person at a party and asked him about himself? What if we were all beaming beacons of love and light? What would it be like if we all lived this way? For in the end, I am very sure that it is love that will save us.

I infuse everything with love today.
I see the best in others.
I see the best in myself.
I am in total harmony with everyone today.
Love operates in all my relationships.
I allow my love to flow freely. My supply of love is endless.
It is a joy to spread love and kindness to everyone I meet today.

Thursday, June 3, 2010

Time to Shed


Photo by Jeff Williams

Shedding

In Spring many animals shed their fur. Because I am not a furry animal, I can only imagine how the excess fur begins feel heavy and cumbersome. Such freedom it must be for them to feel more lightness in their being! Joy! Delight! Present Moment living!

What about you?

Isn't time for you to think about shedding things that feel cumbersome and heavy?

What about old beliefs that keep you small and stuck?

What about the judgments you put on others and yourself?

What about negative thoughts that keeps you from enjoying life fully?

What about some ancient grudges that weigh heavily on your heart and soul?

What about the critical voice in your head that tells you you are not good enough?

What about old habits that are not working for you?

What about anything that just doesn't fit with who you are?

Spring. Time to shed. Time to take inventory. Time to Spring Clean. Time for you to blossom into who you really are!