Living Loved

Today this thought, from Bob Goff's new book Everybody, Always.

What we do with our love; I'm challenged reflecting on that.

Not love as a feeling so much, but love as an action verb.

Thinking with our hearts.

For example, the other day, my friend Caryn came over with this almost-empty box of LEAP window cards that she'd found while she was cleaning.

It goes back about ten years, when Starbucks sold them.

I fell in love with these LEAP cards because the messages on the inside were so uplifting and inspirational. When they went on clearance, I went to every Starbucks I could find, to pick up as many half-priced treasures as I could possibly find. They were perfect for lunchboxes, to give to students after a visit, to tuck into cards and letters that I wrote, because they're fun, like a flat fortune cookie.

Caryn still had one fortune left in that box, and she brought it to me,

to open it up and reveal my special message.

And even after all of these years,

it was perfect for such a time as this.

Life is like that sometimes, we take a leap of faith,

stepping way out of our comfort cocoons,

not knowing what's going to be waiting for us on the other side,

and then someone who loves us well lets us know

that it's all good, that we're going to be just fine,

and that they're proud of us.

Friends like Caryn help me live loved.

So I decided to pay it forward. I bought this heart-shaped mermaid pillow at Kohl's and took it to my friend Jenn at her school, to remind her that she is loved.

A school counselor, she used it as a therapeutic resource for three friends who came to see her that day before sending this beautiful reminder that hope is an amazing gift.