Starting with love
Sunrise over the mountains in Woodstock, Vermont. (Gareth Henderson Photo)
What’s 2023 going to look like? A common question, and one that you really can’t answer – not today. But one thing is for certain: We’re in the driver’s seat when it comes to what we’ll do in the next 12 months. And while year-long goals are in the headlines today, the opening moments of each day deserve a lot of attention.
Starting with the simplest and purest quality there is can be very powerful, and that is love. Many times, the early-morning moments have allowed me the opportunity to quietly focus more on qualities that stem from love, and to start my day in a positive light. It’s a way to let love naturally flow into your experience, like an outstretched sunray. Love provides a solid foundation that is as strong as rock, and it eliminates barriers, fear, and separation from good. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote so elegantly about this in his book, “Strength to Love” : "Darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that." Each day, there are opportunities to live the related qualities of love through acts of:
Kindness
Compassion
Cooperation
Service
Thoughtfulness
Patience
Generosity
Strength
Hope
Centering the day on such qualities of love, opens up ways to more fully express them in our daily lives and overcome fear or obstacles to progress. Seeing that bigger picture, it’s more natural to be a positive force for good, even in small examples, such as thanking the store clerk, waiter, a teacher, or offering to help a neighbor. In this way, we become active parts of the greater good. Small acts of kindness uplift our entire community, moment by moment, and they help build stronger communities. Steps away from the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial in Washington, D.C., is an organization started by Mack McCarter called Community Renewal International. The entire project is about building positive relationships with your neighbors one house at a time and working together for the betterment of the whole. Major crime has dropped an average of 55% in most of the neighborhoods that Community Renewal went into by establishing a foundation of love, compassion and getting to know your neighbors.
By improving our daily moments with love, these positive qualities can only lead to a ripple effect, seeing more of the abundance of love in our lives. And this cultivates progress, builds stronger connections with others, and shows us how we can positively impact this world we all share. What better way to bring more love into the new year?
— Gareth Henderson
