Babies are born with a clean slate. They LOVE unconditionally, whether they are staring into the eyes of their five hundred pound mother who has three dimensional moles growing wiry black hairs, orange teeth and greasy hair, that baby only sees the Love coming from her eyes, and thrives because of it. My three year old Nephew runs to meet me with open arms and a smile from ear to ear, whether my hair is messy or neat, whether my make-up is on or off and whether or not my sweater has tomato sauce stains; he only sees the smile across my face and the Love in MY eyes. It is profound, to witness this true, unconditional Love and I have to wonder why we don't hold tight to this, hold tight to the purity of the one thing that matters most, Love in and of itself.
The act of not Loving and treating a person with worth and kindness is a learned behaviour. It is not something that we are born with. It does not come from stardust, to be certain. It is learned, perhaps by that angry teacher who lost his or her self Love years before but continues to spread his negativity in the name of a paycheck. Simple words stick! Who is to know where and when these sad souls will enter our lives, but they do. Sad, empty people who have no self Love are creating babies every second, so you can imagine how most of these children will grow up; (Comedian BILL BURR says it best right here!) But HOW do we turn things around?? Love. Love prevails and can be found in the twinkly star of the night's sky, Love is everywhere.
Awesome. Love can be found everywhere, but some people would rather stare at nothing, commiserate in their misery over the bad stuff that is going on around them, or the bad stuff that is happening to them. Perhaps they are in an abusive relationship and have become used to living in fear, living in sadness, living as a victim. Or maybe they are living in the depths of despair, caused from childhood trauma, or maybe their best friend died and they can't get out of bed. There IS hope. We are sentient beings, who were born with Love. There are bigger, better and more beautiful things out there to lift you heart up. I promise.
It is very hard to get a strong and genuine point across to anyone today. I have spent hours trying to figure out how to help solve the problems of my Loved ones. Surely what I am saying is truth, yet the poignant words fall on deaf ears. I liken many of these pieces advice or life-experience-stories to that of quitting (or trying to quit) smoking. I smoked on and off for years. I quit a dozen times, but seemed to always start up again (not this last time though, I am four years in!! Almost five as a non-smoking smoker!) We KNOW that smoking is bad! Yet, we continue to do it, and to somehow ignore the signs, and the facts. One day though, we see the light and finally look back and say, yeah, I knew that... I was just a victim and now I am no longer a victim. Bad relationships, depression and smoking can all be compared and I have been a victim of all three. Over and over. Somedays, I find myself drained and dark but I know there is something epic and stunning and soul-fulfilling just around the corner; it's called faith and/or hope. Scientific evidence points to the conclusion that Hope and optimism may be hardwired by evolution into the brain. So there's that.
So there it is. A few ramblings-on about Love. Hope. Faith. If all else fails and you have to stay in bed, just be sure to get up tomorrow. Tomorrow is always a new day, a day to start over again. Also, fresh air helps, a walk around the block, the park, a walk in the woods. Time spent in nature, for me is in the right direction. But remember, whatever you do, do it with Love, always walk towards Love.