We are co-creators of our lives, whatever we send out returns, sooner or later, and what we focus on expands. If we move through the world feeling as though we are part of a family, the human family, and we give love to that family, when possible and not in conflict with self love, we change the world and ourselves.

Want more good? Be goodness.

There are countless ways to love everyday. Open a door, let someone in front of you, put a quarter in an expired meter, smile and make eye contact, pick up something that someone dropped, send a silent prayer (especially to someone you are angry with or in conflict with), really help an old lady cross a street, pick up garbage, stop someone before they drive drunk, pick up a friendly lost animal and do the work to find their owner. The list is endless and often effortless. The ripple effect is tremendous and, just as flipping someone off can set off a chain of negativity, the positive effects of your loving actions can touch countless people. Sometimes the impact is profound.

My friend demonstrated this truth perfectly. On a 110 degree day in Los Angeles, she drove past a broken down car on the freeway. An elderly man and woman sat stranded inside. My friend was on her way to an appointment, but the image of the couple sitting in the sweltering heat lingered. The next exit was a mile past the couple and my friend had to travel two miles on the other side of the freeway, then another mile back up to return to the couple.

When she arrived, she saw the man laboring up the freeway and his wife sitting in the car flushed and alone. They had no cell phone and there was no nearby call box. My friend gave them her phone, drove them to a nearby station to get cold drinks and then returned to their car where she kept them in the cool air conditioning as they waited for a tow truck.

A week later, she received a book written by the elderly man. The book was a tribute to Elenor Roosevelt and her great efforts to encourage others to be better people. With it came a note thanking my friend for stopping to help a stranger and simultaneously reassuring him that the tenets he’d held dear for a lifetime are alive and well for the coming generations.

We are so powerful.

~ Cynthia