Let Your Heart Speak

This morning a little 6-year-old boy asked me why people love one another. His bright blue eyes full of curiosity looked at me as if I held the key to the universe. After a little bit of thought I responded that people simply love each other because that is a natural emotion that we are all born with, but as I turned around to walk away I realized that often times we love without any intention of loving at all. This is where I find beauty in this world, when people find it somewhere in their hearts to love without any expectation of return. Love tangled in strings is always a dangerous game, one that I might advise people to stay from. For the most genuine love is kindness spread across boundaries with no limits. Sure, there is the “mushy-gushy” romantic love, brotherly love, and the mother-child love, but today I want to talk about loving a stranger. For some people, loving a stranger may be easier than overcoming a challenge that they may face with a close friend or family member in order to love them. Others find it odd that someone would compliment a random passerby or extend a helping hand to someone in need. Just for a minute think about all of the people who have impacted your life today; the quick moments of subtle eye contact or the long conversations that you’ve had with someone that you know. At the time, it may not feel like a large impact, but sometimes it is the little exchanges that resonate with you and leave an imprint on your heart. Certainly there are those people that you see around campus who smile when you catch their eye or make an impression too big to forget and those are the people that have learned to love without bounds. There are seekers, wanders, loners, and intellects all around us, but the reality of it is: we are all individual lovers. Everyone has the capacity to make the world a better place, and when you practice love there is only room for community. Sometimes the little things feel like the most effort, it can be challenging to take that leap out into the unknown, but isn’t it worth it? You can be that somebody. The girl that saves a life or the boy that empowers someone to overcome their darkest fear. When you push yourself to love unconditionally, you might just discover that you have the ability to accept all people in the most genuine of ways.

“Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around.” – Leo Buscaglia

This morning I was touched by a little boy who showed me that love comes in many forms and if you open your eyes to the world you will begin to see the possibilities.