LOVE!

It doesn’t matter who you are, what you have been through, or what you have been told.  You are here for a reason, and you matter.  Old or young, rich or poor, fat or skinny, male or female, genius or disabled, athletic or clumsy, shy or outgoing – your life IS significant.

Everyone could use a little more love.  I don’t mean the kind of love that you see in the movies, where everything goes down with its own perfectly timed sound track.  I mean the personalized kind.  The little things and the big things.  From strangers and from loved ones.  There are so many people in our world who are hurting more than we all realize.  I believe what they need is to be recognized, not necessarily for anything that they have done, but just for the fact that they exist!  This shouldn’t happen just once a year on a person’s birthday (I personally find my birthday to be depressing, because it is the one day a  year when people are supposed to acknowledge the fact that I was born, and yet people forget) but rather, it should happen regularly and spontaneously.  People need to be loved on Tuesday mornings – quite possibly the least significant time of the week.  They need to be shown in practical ways that they would be missed if they were gone.

Because of all this need for love, I have decided to live my life with one purpose: to love as many people as possible.  This may mean sacrifice on my part, but that is so much more than okay.  I would rather lose a little sleep or have less money in my bank account than know that there is someone out there who needs me for whom I have just not made the time.  It could be anyone – friend, family, the cashier at the grocery store, the guy who pumps your gas, or the teenager who babysits your kids.  They all need love, no matter how happy they may seem.  

A lot of times there are people who will test our patience.  They may be needy, or just plain annoying.  I can almost promise you that those people are starved for love.  They need love more than anyone.  The same goes for the rich people of the world.  It is so easy to think that just because someone has “everything” that all is well with their soul.  It could very well be the farthest thing from the truth.  Possessions don’t equal happiness and they never have.  I personally would trade everything I had just to find that one person who would love me unconditionally.  It doesn’t have to be a man.  It doesn't have to be romantic.  It could be anyone.  Sometimes life can be so very lonely.  Work, sleep, eat, repeat.  It’s in our nature as human beings to NEED connection with other people.  It’s how we were made, and our society is basically turning us all against our human nature.  Sure, we may be playing to our natural instincts to succeed and procreate etc, but honestly, what is the point of “success” if you have nobody to share it with who really loves you for who you are?  That being said, if you are lonely, please don’t go and jump off a bridge.  As sad as it is, sometimes it’s the lonely ones, the ones in need of love who have to take a step out.  It may be the hardest thing you do, to step out and ask someone to care for you, but you may be surprised how many people will reach back.  It’s a moment of epiphany when you realize that people actually do care.  Not only that, but you may find that when you step out and ask for love you may be able to help someone else in return.  We humans need to stick together, for goodness sake!  Why do you think there are so many of us in the first place?  Do you really think it is so that we can just go about our own little lives, living apart from any real, meaningful interactions?  Somehow, I doubt it.

Thanks for "listening."