Love is Possible 

The news is overwhelming these days. It’s too much. The other night Cole and I tackled his homework while the nightly news was on in the background. I noticed he had completely shut down. In that moment, I realized what he was watching: news on the refugee crisis, news on the police in Chicago, and news about people getting sick from eating Chipotle. When I asked him what was wrong, his answer was simple. “Our world is ending. We don’t take care of people. We don’t trust people who protect us. And we get sick from what we are eating.”

I sat there stunned. How do I respond to a statement like that? He just watched it with his own eyes. I can’t deny it. I can tell him about all the people who are helping, I can tell him stories of hope, but it’s all still happening. We are turning our backs on people who not only need help but deserve help. Don’t we all deserve a safety net?

He wouldn’t let me sit there quietly for long. I had to answer him. The only thing I know to be true is that this is exactly why we have to love. This is exactly why we have to give. This is exactly why we have to be our best every single day. We are so lucky. We are so lucky to love each other and to live our life the best way we possibly can live life.

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In yoga today, the class started by with an intention: find our place of comfort. My body is sore these days. I’ve been doing more than I ever have before. Monday I ran. Tuesday I went to Evofit, and I ran. Today I went to Evofit, and I practiced yoga. I am moving my body, and I am feeling good. I have found my place of comfort.

My body is sore, but my heart is light. My thoughts are clear. I’m inspired by my potential. I’m motivated by those around me. Right now I just feel good.

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While I am moving and breathing and enjoy everything that comes with it, there is another mom with two little boys wishing for a life without fear. She isn’t sitting next to her son explaining the things he saw on the nightly news. She is searching for an explanation for what is happening all around her, to her, and to her family.

It doesn’t feel right. It doesn’t seem to be fair. It’s not right, and it’s not fair. I don’t know how to explain to my son why this is happening. I am sad, I am angry, and I am disappointed. When those feelings settle, when I see past the fear, the only words I can find to tell my child as he figures out his own world is to love: love yourself more than anyone will every love you, love your family more than that, love your friends even more,  and love your enemies the most.

“We humans have always sought to increase our personal energy in the only manner we have known, by seeking to psychologically steal it from the others — an unconscious competition that underlies all human conflict in the world” ~James Redfield

We don’t have to put others down to make ourselves better. Focus on being the best version of you that you can possibly be. Find what makes you feel alive. Listen to the whispers in your heart.

I am sad for the mother raising her children in fear. I am angry that people think this is okay. I am disappointed that we believe she doesn’t deserve help. I am lucky. I am so incredibly lucky that I can watch the sunrise while I run, that I can find a group of women who support me while I find my own strength, that I can work for a company that makes the world feel small, that I can tell my husband that I love him every single day, and that I can raise boys to roam free. I owe it to every mother who isn’t as lucky to be grateful for what I have in my life. I owe it to them to be the best version of myself. I owe it to them love freely.

“We can become inspired to shape a higher, more ideal future, and when we do, miracles happen.” ~James Redfield

I have to live my life as if the world exists as it should. I will continue to do all things that make my heart light and my head clear. I will continue to love. One day the world will follow. One day we won’t let fear guide us. One day when someone asks for help, we will offer them our hand instead of judgment.

This is the only answer I have for Cole. If he doesn’t like what he is watching on the news, he has to grow up and live a life that doesn’t follow that same pattern. Life is a balancing act. On one side is a life stuck in fear, and on the other side is a life open to possibility. Our choices and our decisions are what add weight to either side of the scale. The more we chose love, the more love is possible.