We pray as a family every night. Joe and Bella pretty much say the same thing every night. They may mix it up a bit given what has happened that day or even say, “No thank you.” Granted, one day last week Joe began his prayer with, “OK Google…” We laughed really hard and moved on. One night last week I thanked God for every person that I was blessed to come across that day. Later that night I was praying and thinking (ok, more thinking than praying but…) “What kind of impact did I have on each of those people that I came across today?”
I really stopped and paused thinking about that question. Did I love them? Did I make their day better? Did they feel better after I had been with them, even if but for just a moment? I’m not just talking about my family and close loved ones…that’s obvious. What about the person I let go ahead of me as we walked into Aldi? What about the lady at the bank? How was my interaction with the parent that called me about their son/daughter that I coach? What about the person that honked at me in traffic (whether or not what I did was wrong which of course it wasn’t)?
What if we got a score card each night? What if we were graded on how well we loved each day? For those of you who are Christians, did you bring people closer to Jesus? For the rest of you, did you make this world a better place for the people with which you interacted? How well do you love?
It seems obvious but hasn’t occurred to me in that simple and clean way before. Do I fail? Sure. Can I focus more and take each interaction with a more outward mindset? Absolutely. Do our present and past hurts impede our ability to love? Of course. That is why so much if not most of this website is centered on emotional healing. Just search “comfort, love, healing, emotional needs” and you’ll have lots to work with.
Wherever you are emotionally, taking the time to slow down and see every interaction as an opportunity to love will help you. It will help others. It will make your (and this) world a better place.