It’s amazing to watch a child’s unconditional love. As I was watching our son go through his tonsillectomy surgery this week, it was amazing to see how our daughter comforted him and watched over him like his keeper. And of course he returned the favor by telling his sister that she could have some of his slushy drink! When my daughter and I were leaving the hospital for the night, she started crying because she wanted to stay with her brother. She simply said, “I just love him.” There were no stipulations, no reservations…just pure unconditional love.
As I reflected on it, it really got me thinking. It’s amazing as we grow up, love evaporates. It’s like a slow leak in a tire or balloon. It’s filled up and then slowly it drains. The low tire light comes on and we stare at it, usually until the next oil change to take care of it. We are filled up with love as a child, and then as we get older and go through each stage of life, love slowly drains. Love changes. We put conditions and stipulations on it. We treat love like crap. We treat people like crap. And yes, we treat ourselves like crap. We get so self-centered that we blame everyone else for all of the problems. Some a-hole just cut me off on the road, or did you see that jerk on TV. Or better yet, we yell “your welcome” when the person we just held the door for does not say “thank you.” We tear down people’s character for something they did. We then head right to social media, and bitch about it with a creative post. Then all our friends pile on agreeing with us! Just look around you and see how many people are constantly in their own world…it’s not that hard to see, unless you too have your head up your ass. Love evaporates.
Sure, there are still great moments of love and joy that occur throughout our lives, but we still put so many conditions on it when we are adults. The ALS ice bucket challenge has been great. It is a brilliant way to raise awareness and bring people together. However, look at all the terrible events occurring recently. Ferguson, Missouri is this week’s event. Next week, something else will arise and take its place. And the week after that, something else will take its place. We are human. We make mistakes. We do crazy things because we are human. And figuring out ways to love less is part of being human too. I’m not saying that all of us are going to sit around the camp fire and roast marshmallows together; we all need to do a better job of loving people and this world! We need to do more of that, we do need to think about loving more like a child does.
So how do we love more like a child? Loving more like a child starts from within each of us. It’s loving internal. You must start with yourself first. You have to take care of yourself, and do kind things for yourself. Be healthy. Be who you are and not someone else. Be authentic. Be free. Serve and help others out when they need it most. And most importantly, let go of the negative events that you have buried deep inside that you let linger on and continue to impact you. You cannot control what others do to you, only the meaning of it. It is you who is creating the feeing and emotion. You let love evaporate when you hold on to the negative things. It does project outward and people can see it. You have to love more than you hate. There are days where it’s tough to do just that. We want to scream at or punch the person for doing something to us. Most children get into disagreements or fight over toys several times a day. They pinch, slap, and sometimes punch. They stomp off and say “I hate you. I’m not playing with you again.” Five minutes later, they are back playing together like nothing happened. Wouldn’t it be nice if we adults can be that way? We can. Don’t say adults cannot be that way, as that is just a load of BS and more excuses. It’s your choice. It all starts with U!
