Love lost and found
It can be hard to tell what heartache those around us are experiencing and what a small kindness, a smile, or a touch can do to help. Sometimes we are the one in pain and tending to our own heart is what’s really needed. And sometimes just bringing to our awareness what others may be feeling can open our hearts and change our behavior.
Reaching out to others is not only kind, it is good for our health. And, according to research, kindness can become contagious. (No Purell needed here!) This month of Valentine’s Day (symbolically, at least) can be a reminder that love, listening, and presence are some of the greatest gifts we can give ourselves and others–from those who are close and important to us to those we pass in the hall at work, on the street, or in a checkout line.
Knowing that loss is inevitable can actually open our hearts to others and awaken us to each moment. So, why not “fall in love” with an ever-widening circle of people, like Bobbie Willis, a contributor to The Sun Magazine’s “Readers Write” section describes so beautifully.
“What saves me from the tedium of another day,” she writes, “is falling hopelessly in love with the people I meet: the curly-haired barista at the coffee shop who hands me my change as if dipping his fingers into holy water; the girl with Down syndrome who talks loudly about vacationing with her grandmother; the elderly couple who grow giant bubble-gum-colored puffs of dahlias at the corner of Twelfth and Chambers; the toddler girl across the street who bleats sweetly, “Mama come see!”; I fall in love with the deep timbre of my brother’s laugh; the way my mother says my name; the way my father calls me sweetheart; the way my sweetheart calls me baby.”
Submitted by: Roselle Kovitz