Love Sweet Love -

“What the world needs now is love sweet love.

It’s the only thing that there’s just too little of…..”

Boy, is that the understatement of the year.

This magical song written by Hal David and Burt Bacharach back in 1965 has such a simplistic message that reaches right into the heart of many of the problems facing the world today.

The enormity of the world problems creates such an overwhelming feeling of helplessness. It feels impossible to come up with a way that we, as simple individual beings, could possibly find any way to contribute to the solutions.

But what if each one of us, in our own small way, could make incremental changes in our daily actions that could potentially impact even one person. Impact them enough to be the catalyst for change in their own lives. And it multiplies and spreads. Again and again. The ripple effect. This positive wave of movement could be the beginning of a revolution like none other.

Imagine the result of this? Imagine the explosive reaction that would spread throughout your family, neighborhood, community, the world. Good acts multiplying over and over. Love flowing like a tidal wave over the country, drowning the hate and complacency under an ocean of goodness.

We’ve seen this happen on the other side, from love’s evil twin – hate. All you need to do is look at the news and read social media to see, first hand, how quickly it can spread. It’s easy to light the match to spark a negativity fire that triggers an epidemic size burn. It’s frightening to watch, but it happens every day in our short tempered, angry, sharp-tongued society.

In my rose colored glasses state of mind, I would propose a “Love” movement. A trend. A fad. A hand reaching out to another. A kind word. A compliment. A laugh. Goodwill gestures to family, friends, and strangers. A drink of the milk of human kindness. Imagine a world where hate and violence were overpowered by love and kindness.

What are the ways that we can do this?

Can we reach out to someone we used to know on Social Media, just to say “hi”, “good to see you again”, “you look great!”?

Can we “like”, with the positive thumbs up, when your friends post something that makes them happy? Thumbs up = you care. It’s easy to do and might make someone’s day.

Can we spontaneously chat to someone standing in front of you in line at the store? “How’s your day going?”

Can we reach outside of our comfort zone and engage in fellowship among mankind – looking at yourself through the eyes of a stranger and asking yourself, “what do they see”. Am I smiling? Am I friendly? Am I approachable?

Can we honestly look at ourselves and say that we are doing our part on this life journey to make the world around us a better place? Or are we caught up in our own private world, without really caring about what’s outside our door.

Are we a model for our children to admire? Are we teaching our grandchildren the habits that breed a better, more peaceful future? Are we teaching by example?

My sincere hope is that kindness will soon extinguish the fires of hate. That enough of us who are agonizing over and disheartened with the current world culture can gradually make a difference that will stimulate a better tomorrow.

I am realistic enough to know that many of the problems today cannot be fixed with kindness. I know that the problems are deeply rooted in areas that are beyond our limited reach and ability. But, can we not let those problems seep into our lives and destroy our desire to bring goodness and joy to each other. Can the “Moonflower Bloom” moments that bring joy to our lives be passed on to others to spread like wildflowers in the fertile ground of love and tolerance?

Listen to the words of the song and see the beauty of the lyrics

“What the world needs now is love, sweet love

no, not just for some, but for everyone”

Be that drop of water today. Make a difference. Cause the ripple to start. See where it goes.

Simply yours,

Let’s chat!

How can you make a difference today? What is one thing that you would urge readers to do to make an impact in the world? Which act of kindness do you want your children to remember you by?