Love Over Hate

Choose love for the person who cut you off this morning or the people on the bus who had a seat while you had to stand. You don’t know where they were going or what they were coming from. Maybe they needed it.

Choose love for the shop assistant who gave you bad service or the work colleague who isn’t up to the job and leaves others to pick up the slack, taking home the same pay. People who are good at what they do are there because they choose to be, not because they have to be. Those who are skilled have had the benefit of someone’s time and attention to help them build those skills. Maybe the assistant or colleague is having a bad day, or maybe they have never known nurture.

Choose love for the badly behaved child. They are reacting to situations out with their control. They are expressing emotions they don’t know how to process. They are trying to tell all of us that something is wrong. Child protection is everyone’s responsibility. When we judge a child who is creating issues, we are failing in our duty to protect that child, even the teenagers. Maybe your understanding will change their path for the better.

Choose love for yourself. When you know better, you do better. If you always try to be better than yesterday, to learn and grow and understand, you can forgive your past transgressions. Maybe loving yourself is what has been missing all along.

Choose love for the immigrants and asylum seekers. Not all of them are threats to women and children. Not all threats to women and children are immigrants or asylum seekers. The statistics, for those who like facts, or their stories for those who seek something more personal, should convince you that they are here for their own safety, not to threaten anyone else’s. Maybe in embracing our fellow humans and disregarding lines on a map, we can unite for a safer world for everyone.

Choose love for anyone who is not motivated by greed or hatred. Just as we need love to learn and grow and understand, so does everyone we meet. Love allows us to be open to changing our mind and making better choices when new information tells us that is the right thing to do. Love grows when we do that. Maybe, just maybe, we can be the starting point for a world where love is the most powerful force, not greed, hatred, division, war…

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Maybe it could start with you.