February is just around the corner and as we had in previous years, our thoughts turn to love. Not that kind. The kind that everybody sees something to love in everybody else, really maximizing those seven loves.
St. Theresa of Calcutta had many things to say about love. One that resonates deeply with us is, “Spread love everywhere you go. Let no one ever come to you without leaving happier.”
It is a lesson everyone can learn from and everyone can pass on. It calls to mind what we wrote in a postwe just featured as a Friday Flashback,.” Your presence makes a difference. You choose what kind of difference you will make.” Just as you choose how to love those around you and those you meet only once as you pass each other in life.
“Wait! You say I can love someone I might only see once in my entire life?” you ask.
Yep!
“Let no one ever come to you without leaving happier.”
That is the essence of love. Spreading happiness, cheerfulness, and kindness. How else can you describe love? You create the atmosphere around you. The feelings of those near you are influenced by your presence. We explained in The Simple Truth, “you create a positive atmosphere, are outgoing, warm and friendly. … Others want to be around you. … People generally and genuinely feel better because you are there.”
And then, we went on to say, “You don’t notice this as a positive trait because you consider it just the way you are supposed to be.”
Imagine having so much love for the world that you don’t think twice about it being unusual. You don’t think it is unexpected. Or even expected. You don’t think about it at all. It just is and you just do. It is part of your existence.
In All We Need is Love we wrote, “[Love] takes no special skill, no particular expertise, no real talent. Love is a part of us. It is within us. We are born to love.” But then in Love’s Struggles we wrote, “love is active, it requires movement, activity, energy.
”
So which is it? Something naturally within us or something that requires energy to experience? Actually it is both. The energy that is required is no more than the energy required to breathe. If your heart is beating you can radiate love. It is not something extraordinary that can only live in mystery and romance.
Love is a quiet quality that lives in each of us waiting for a chance to be shared.
That’s fine you say, but how does one share this love with everyone? Love is intimate. How can you share something so intimate with someone you don’t know. Revisiting St. Theresa’s feelings about love, she also said, “Every time you smile at someone, it is an action of love, a gift to that person, a beautiful thing.” The small gracious actions return big dividends. A smile, a kind word, holding a door open. These are the actions of a loving person. There are the actions of love.
You can radiate love. We closed The Simple Truth with, “You can be a powerfully positive example, or one nobody wants to be like. One way or another, someone feels better because of you. If you do it right, you will feel better because of you too.”
All we need is love. And a willingness to share it. It’s time to live, love, and share. You have plenty to spread around. Now get out there and spread around some love!
