In your entire life, there’s never been a more important time to say, “I love you.”
Our world is pandemic weary, angry, bitter and scared. We’ve lost friends and family members to real diseases and from the disease of politics.
If you’ve been lucky enough to live through the first lockdown of 2020, you will soon be looking at another one. The loneliness, isolation and uncertainty are more than most of us can bear again.
So I ask you this question. What happens if we give out love freely, authentically and more often? Starting right now.
What happens if you call your dad, text a friend you haven’t talked to in a year or post on your niece’s Facebook page and say, “I love you?” Right now.
Do it. You will shine light into someone’s soul. And you will put good energy into a world that is starving for it. A world that seems as though it has forgotten how to love.
In the last year, saying “I love you” has become more meaningful than ever for me.
My husband, Jimmy, and I say “I love you” to each other a lot every day. Not because we are enlightened or special somehow. But because we do love each other in a profound way. And because Jimmy has lived through two quintuple bypass operations. So we know that we are guaranteed nothing in this life. This moment of love is the most important thing in the world, and it is all we really have.
A little over a year ago, the rector of my church connected me with a woman named Sandy. What began with a phone call and a breakfast has blossomed into one of the most important relationships in my life. We have become what we call Sister Friends. We know that God allowed our paths to come together. I think it happened because I was about to undergo a major life transition, and God knew I would need an exceptional friend, so he gave me Sandy. We end every email and every call with “I love you.” It feels right and natural because I honestly don’t know what I’d do without her.
My mom and I frustrate each other quite a bit in this end-of-life journey we’re going through together. It gets really tough sometimes. But every night, after I tuck her in, we hold hands, give a little squeeze and say, “I love you.” Because we do and because we are both very aware of how important it is to say it. Right now.
I once had a dear and gentle friend named Elisabeth. She died of colorectal cancer in her early 40’s. Her last words to all of us who communicated with her on Caring Bridge were, “Love is all that matters.” She was right then, and she is right now.
Headlines don’t matter. Elections don’t matter. Arguments don’t matter. What happened at work doesn’t matter. Worry doesn’t matter. The love you feel in your heart for the people in your life is all that matters.
So tell them. They need this good energy right now and so does the world.
I love you.
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