“Love is but the discovery of ourselves in others, and the delight in the recognition.” – unknown

We have opportunities to let go of hate and forgive. To accept one another without prejudice or judgment. To support one another without explanation.

But we don’t do that.

Instead, we find reasons to ridicule and criticize.

We prefer exclusion over inclusion.

War is preferred to peace.

We know what’s missing. It’s staring us straight in the face and we act like it’s not there. Like we can’t see it.

So we avoid eye contact and go about our merry way, only to wonder why things remain the same.

Every day chances

This morning, I needed to make a call to have one of our appliances looked at and possibly repaired. After waiting a few moments, I was finally connected with a woman I will call “J.” I didn’t have a lot of information about when I had purchased my dishwasher, but I had enough information to help J find what she needed to help me get a technician to come out to the house. Throughout this conversation, I told her that people should connect as people and how we have let incidents pass by without really talking with one another anymore. I knew this conversation was being recorded and still took the chance to have a nice conversation with someone who not only could help me, but I also saw it as something else…

A way for me to help her.

Yes, you read that right.

I went into what my close friends call, “Homme-mode”

The place where I become my true self.

Without warning, I start sharing with J about how we can make this world a little better with simple acts of kindness and how we are all inspired by the same little things we miss in every day life.

I heard her smile through the phone and you could tell she was laughing. In the background, I overheard other people in her call center talking with their customers as well. We chatted about the weather as well.

Towards the end of the call, she finally read me the disclaimer she needed to read me and she said those words that make us all smile…”You just made my day!”

Love comes in many sizes

How many times have we missed a moment in our lives to share a little bit of love?

Have we convinced ourselves that the love we possess isn’t enough to really make a difference?

Where did we lose our faith in people?

Somehow, we were convinced that something didn’t have value unless it was expensive and massive in size.

We forgot that love doesn’t come with a price tag or big red ribbon on it.

Instead, love is found in the tiniest of cracks, the darkest corners, and the smallest of holes. It is found in the purest samples of life we have to offer one another, yet forget to partake in or dismiss as insignificant as meaningless.

After all, it’s just one smile.

Right?

ONE smile cannot mean that much…

“I don’t even know that person…they won’t miss what I don’t offer.”

Love doesn’t come with directions or a plan.

It just is.

The world is much smaller than we think

Although we all live in different parts of the world, speak different languages, and may never cross paths with every person alive, love can reach every facet of this planet.

You see, love isn’t bound by walls or held back by oceans.

It isn’t lost in the desert or buried underground.

Love lives within us all.

It is found in every beating heart.

Without warning, love can overcome us as we try to fight back tears as we see loved ones after a long absence.

Love is found in the laughter of a child as she is given many kisses by puppies.

The sunrise and the sunset have shared their beautiful colors the way Mother Nature intended.

So we all must learn that the giving of ourselves comes from love just as the receiving of it can only be accomplished by love.

Love begins with you

Just as it begins with me.

It is the very root of everything we crave and desire and allowing ourselves to be good stewards to one another, regardless of what happens next is the foundation of how we interact with one another.

Don’t look for something to come your way to show love — let it start within your heart.

Show the world that giving love is a part of who you are and in doing so, you influence the world to do the same.

We begin to understand what it means to unconditionally care enough about someone else to give them a helping hand…because some day, we will be the gracious recipients of that same love.

Love isn’t a feeling…it’s an action. Something that grows within us. The only way we can release that power is to set in free and watch the miracles that follow in its footsteps.

Michelle A. Homme 2016 ©