Let love and hope prevail

I turn on the radio, read articles online, flip through a newspaper and the headlines are so full of hate and fear. I try to avoid getting political here, but realize that this post may do just that, even if ever so slightly. There is something greater than politics, though. It seems as though hate and fear are becoming ingrained in our culture. I surround myself with loving people. I work hard to teach my children love, and hope. I want people around me who nurture that not only in me but in my children. I am friends with people of many different faiths: Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Taoism and people of little or no faith including agnostics and atheists. What we have in common is love. And, often, hope.

I don't like feeling as if I am being yelled at or shouted to by politicians who would like to become the next president of the United States. It hurts my ears and it hurts my heart. When it comes on the radio, I quickly change the station, most of the time. When the kids are in the car with me, I stick to music and often let them make the song selections. Between AM, FM, Sirius XM, and the iPod, we have a pretty good variety and the news can wait. I don't want to shelter them from the world, but I do prefer to surround them with positive sounding things, especially while we're driving from Point A to Point B, whatever the distance may be.

The biggest struggle I have right now is not which radio station to play or what news to filter, but rather, the realization that Miss Hollywood's biggest fear is not being loved. More to the point, it seems to be losing my love in particular. This hurts. It hurts that she has such fear right now. More than that, it hurts that she could ever think that she would ever be without my love.

I have a lot of nurturing to do. A lot of loving to do. I wish it were enough for me to look her in the eye and say, "I love you always." and have her immediately feel reassured and loved.

Sometimes, she doesn't like something I say to her. (Remember that post from a couple of months ago where I talked about navigating through helping her see that telling her no doesn't mean I don't love her?) At the end of the day, we finish with hugs, and love. She wakes up in the morning and is cheerful, loving, loved, and knows she is loved. And then we begin again.

I can tell her that I love her, but she needs more than that. All kids do. They need to see it, feel it, hear it, and express it. They need to know love. We need to live love. Be love.

Yesterday, I reshared on Facebook this picture I created last week:

I wrote with it: "I want to believe that love exists, and that hope is eternal."
Apparently, some thought I was drifting off in thought wondering if I would ever find romantic love. Ha! That, right now, is among the least of my concerns.

I want to believe that love exists in the WORLD. I want to believe that we can live life full of love. I want fear to be driven out and hope to spread. I want to see a future full of love and hope. I want to live every day in a way that as my children know they are loved and as they drift off to sleep, they can feel it in their hearts and souls. I want to turn on the radio and hear about the good in the world. I want to spend time with my friends and family so that they we can live a life of love together and nurture it in ourselves and in each other.

I reach out to friends and I take time out to call a family member because that's what love requires. I will put family first. I will love friends as if they are family. I will stand up for what I believe to be right and I will teach my children to do the same. We will stand together in love. We will stand together for love.

Love is so much more than a single relationship. It is a manner of living and giving and, even receiving. It is something that should be the foundation of all we do. When we live a life full of love, we can find it easier to be hopeful. Let us drive out fear and erase hate. Let us live love and spread hope. Be. Live. Believe.
#lovebeginswithme