Tonight I lay on the bed reading my children stories before
bedtime, they were draped on me, stroking my hair, asking me a bucket load of
questions and I just looked at them in complete awe. Here are these amazing inquisitive, super
intuitive, loving beings that I am blessed to know and love. I feel privileged that I am able to spend all
of my days with them, and I feel honoured and humbled that they love me, not
because of what I look like, what I can do, they just love me. It got me thinking we could learn so much
from their approach to life. If we all
start out like that does anybody know when do we get turned into cynical, task
orientated, judgemental, hypocritical grownups?
I know I will have the pleasure of having my children in my home
for such a short time and I am absolutely committed and focused on loving them
and enjoying them, as much as humanly possible, during this time. I get fleeting feelings of impending loss and
heartache when I think of them growing up, but I also get feelings of immense
pride when they are able to turn and sing the Tim McGraw song Last Dollar, “1-2-3 Like a bird I sing Cause you've given
me the most beautiful set of wings I’m so glad you’re here today Cause tomorrow
I might have to go and fly away” (http://youtu.be/EyFwMd_a6JI).
So what does all this have to do with being lonely? I am thinking one of the most important things
we can do to make our world a lovely place to live is to actively do things to
make people feel less lonely. A new
person moves to town, invite them over; visit an elderly neighbour; say hello
to people in the supermarket; post a birthday card to remember an old friends
birthday. They seem like little
acts that could easily and justifiably be over looked in our busy days, but
maybe, just maybe, making people feel loved and connected might be more
important than getting to a meeting on time, mopping the floors, mowing the
lawn, working late to meet a deadline.
The tricky thing is you don’t even have to be alone to feel
lonely. You could start with the people
that live in your house, does anybody feel lonely, misunderstood, unheard? I am reading “The 5 Love Languages of
Children”, and I have also started reading “The 5 Love Languages” both by Gary
Chapman and this has opened my eyes to the most important relationships in my
life. The concept of love languages
examines how we receive love, and if we don’t talk the love language of our spouse
or children they may never feel completely loved, and therefore will not be
able to reach their full potential. It
is fascinating and I cannot recommend the books highly enough. I have also been attending a 6 week workshops
that includes learning how to be a better listener. All these things are combining to paint a
detailed picture of what is required to love properly, so those nearest and
dearest to us don’t feel lonely. Up
until now I kind of assumed we all just knew how to love, but with
knowledge and commitment, we can love so much better.
I feel a little like I am on my high horse and I should stop
preaching, but I am so obsessed with love at the moment and the benefits that
come from love that I just can’t stop thinking, talking and writing about
it. What do you think?
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