Learn how to see through the eyes of your heart.
In the darkest of nights, hope is the beacon that guides us back home.
Our human instinct is to withdraw from pain, my personal preference was to hide and cower in silence to literally bring my hands to my eyes and play a twisted type of hide and seek with reality. That habit recently shifted.
After a tragedy, this past April, my little sister, my guardian angel came to comfort me and I shared with her my newfound glimpse at true freedom. I was in a hit and run accident, where a car collided with me as I crossed the street. There aren’t words that explain the revelation I experienced, except that I felt for a fraction of a moment what love and pure forgiveness actually are.
I tried to explain my “growth mindset” and “positive outlook” to my sister as we walked and I told her a story about a study that researched how we see the world.
The blurry details are the basic observation of two twin boys who were shown a room with a pile of horse manure. The first boy became angry at the insult and irate. The second boy beamed and began an immediate search for the pony that must be nearby. My sister laughed and retorted, “there’s no horse Vivian and you’re out looking for Unicorns.”
But to love truly we have no choice but to believe, to trust, accept, and most importantly hope.
The paradox though is that the more we strive reach and draw our attention to it, the more elusive it becomes. Saint Paul explains, “We are saved by hope, but hope that is seen is not hope” (Romans 8:24)
It’s a futile act to berate, judge demand assume or predict the behavior of others. Many of us seek out control (says the recovering control freak). But the only true assurance we can count on is within ourselves. We must trust and believe in ourselves first, and then we can trust and believe in others and finally, act in love. Love requires a conscious choice. We love because we will it.
In Lourdes, the pilgrims pray for each other, not for themselves.
Service counteracts our self-preoccupation and strengthens our resolve and self-esteem demonstrating that we can do something for others while also tying us to each other.
Choose hope and act in love. This is how we nurture our world and cultivate peace in our hearts and in those we love. This is how we see through the eyes of our hearts.
Play, experiment, and have fun with this in your life.
Let me know how it goes.
Leave a Reply