A Little Love

Our mind gets used to worrying. Almost at any situation, more or less difficult, our first reaction is typically to start worrying. We defend our right to worry by thinking that it shows how much we care. We dignify worrying as something essentially gracious - we are better people if we worry, and if we don't, then there is something wrong with us - we are cold, we are indifferent, we are ignorant. We must worry. That's the first sign of a decent person - someone who is awake. We even worry when we are happy - what if this happiness will be destroyed? Better start worrying about it now, so we don't feel like fools later.

What if instead of our old beloved habit to worry just about anything and everything that we encounter in life, we stop for a moment, take a deep breath, quiet our mind and reach that place deep inside of us that is responsible for love? Stop. Let your thoughts do whatever they are doing. Don't try to get rid of them. Just do not pay attention to them. They will go away as uninvited visitors would go away if you do not open your door to them, do not offer them tea and a friendly conversation. Nobody likes to feel unwanted. Our thoughts are no different.

As you feel your head emptying out the usual worries, you will most probably not be able to help it but feel peace inside of you. And most probably, as you reach that peaceful place deep down, you will start feeling love. You won't be able to explain love to what or to whom really - you will just feel like love filling your whole being, every big and little cell. You will start feeling light - in both senses of the word, like the weight of the world gone off your shoulders, and like some incredible source of light starts shining from inside of you.

This light will fill everything in and out, your body, your mind, the room you are in, will spill into the space like the most beautiful outburst of joy and love you've ever experienced. The sensation will be so irresistible - you won't want it to ever end.

And so the next time you catch yourself starting to worry again, remember that little spot within you that is stronger than your worry. That is lighter than your worry. More dignifying than your worry. More beautiful than your worry. More desirable than your worry. More powerful than your worry.

If it is your health you are worrying about, if it is your vocation, your child, your troubled friend - take a deep breath, quiet your mind, don't care about your thoughts, don't offer them a cup of tea - no matter how demanding your uninvited visitors are, they will not stay, just give them all the time they need, leave them alone and go about your own business. Find that spot inside of you, reach for love, then release it. Let it spill from you and reach that same spot inside of the person or the problem you're concerned about. You don't need to make any efforts other than just let yourself to feel it.

If it is the war, the politics, the crimes, the drugs, the ecology you worry about - reach that same little place inside of you, feel the light, feel the love - and then let it spill out - outside of your soul, outside of your being, outside of the room, the country, the continent, outside the outer space. Let your love reach anything and everything that it needs to reach. Let this light shine and touch the ones who need it most right now, this exact moment. 

Don't worry about doing this "good enough" or "often enough". Just do it when you remember it. Every time you remember, catching yourself worrying - go within, breathe, let everything just be, don't concern yourself whether it's right or wrong, feel the love inside you and let it touch all that needs love, be it people, animals, government, church, politics, that person who hurt you, that difficult situation you have no clue what to do about, your worries about aging, about not being rich, successful, fulfilled, loved, your children, your pets who pee in all the inappropriate corners, your elder parents, the neighbor who is loud and annoying, that old childhood friend who does not talk to you in ages, your aunt who passed away way too early, the sales person who was snappy with you, the policeman who caught you over-speeding, the president of your country who seems to have lost his way, your beloved one who is exhausted, that little sore spot in your lower back, the blister on your foot... reach it all in this moment, whatever and whoever comes to mind - you know deep down that it all needs love, all and always need more than anything, love.

Let your soul do the most precious job it is designed to do.

And in return, you will feel happier, calmer, more fulfilled, more confident, more of anything you dream of.

Send a little love to the world. Do it now. Do it whenever you can. The world does not need more worries. But it always, always needs more love.

Photos by Justin

Location: Chinese Reconciliation Park, Tacoma

Dress - Goodwill

Hat - Old Navy

Wooden and amber accessories - 

collected over the years, some are gifts from beloved people

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