Love Fest

I love a good challenge.

Sometimes I purposefully place myself in a challenging situation to see how I will react.  You know, kind of as a test to gauge where I am on my path and if anything I've learned has stuck inside this crazy brain of mine.

One thing I've been doing on purpose lately is to really look at the people I encounter with love {yes, even the guy in traffic that insists on shooting me the finger as he passes by}, instead of the usual fly by the seat of my pants judgement I'm so used to practicing {oh don't be like that, you know we all do it!}

At first it was difficult.  To look directly in the face of someone {usually a stranger} and say to yourself "I see only love in this face".  I wondered why it was so difficult, then realized that when I am saying this to someone, I am also saying it to myself {and we all know self love is a serious hot button for most people, myself included}.  Eventually though as time has gone on, I have found it has become mostly automatic AND I have noticed the residual effect of extreme joy welling up inside of me when I practice.

What's interesting about this little challenge is that I am starting to see huge judgement everywhere, like all of a sudden someone has pulled out a magnifying glass and you can't escape even the slightest sound of judgement.

I haven't perfected my practice.  Obviously.  This is one of those long roads and ego {like it does}will always draw me back into it's insanity as a way of giving me more reference points.  But the magnifying glass has been drawn on me as well.  As soon as I find myself in a position of judgement I find I am placed in a position of seeing what is happening as a third party.  Almost like watching a movie play out in front of me.

It's a serious trip!

Here's the greatest part.  No sooner do I see how I am contributing and where I am about to judge, when I am given an opportunity to stop.  I think maybe the practice of purposefully seeing love in everyone has opened up this space inside of me that now gives me a chance to make a change before the judgement is released out into the world.

So, why am I sharing this?  Why do I think you would care?

Well, I think we are all walking around tired of the way life is heading.  I think we are all tired of the politics, the competition and the lies that we tell ourselves everyday just to get through one more moment of insanity.

What if each of us decided to purposefully look into the face of everyone we lay our eyes on and affirm that we see only love? 

What would our lives look like then?  Imagine the gossip that would erupt if everyone we saw was love?

I can just hear the buzz in the coffee shops now....  "Oh my goodness I saw the most loving woman the other day with the most beautiful eyes and kind smile.  I feel like everywhere I look is beauty and that I am in some kind of amazing dream! Everyone I encounter is friendly and helpful and just so full of love.  It makes me feel so warm inside."  "Well, then you're just never going to guess what happened to me the other day......blah, blah, blah amazing....blah, blah, blah incredible loving feeling.....blah, blah, blah just the greatest day of my life.......".

You get the picture.

So why not challenge yourself to a little love fest of your own and see the changes it will inspire in you?

**WARNING:  Seeing in love in others is seriously addictive and may lead to feelings of extreme joy and the strong need for random acts of kindness. **