Making Change Through Acts of Love

I have a sign hanging in my office that says, “If you want to change the world, go home and love your family.” Widely credited to Mother Theresa, upon further investigation, I found out this quotation was paraphrased. When asked what can be done to promote world peace, she had answered, “Go home and love your family.” And wow, do I feel the need for change and the need for peace, now more than ever. 

Perhaps it is not as out of reach as one may think, for I do believe that change and peace begin in the home. As a clinician, I spend most of my time in sessions exploring beliefs formed during childhood that no longer serve the client. Negative messages the client received while growing up that impacted their self-perception and created behaviors that now get in the way of them making connections in their relationships. Defense mechanisms, walls, avoidance, shutdowns, and a disconnect that we have created to protect ourselves. So, what if, instead, we let our guards down, we lean into unconditional love? This is not to say that we let others take advantage of us, or treat us poorly, but that we see past the defenses of one another and instead see the love. We look under the walls of the other person, and we focus on the emotion. We look for the way the people we care about show up for us instead of the ways we wish they did. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a big ask, and honestly, I find it challenging myself. But with the holidays drawing nearer, and along with that, more time with extended family members, is there a way we can set aside our differences and instead simply embrace our similarities? Can we love the people around us unconditionally as an act towards making change in what we want to see in the world? I ask you to consider, is there a way for you to make more room at your table this year for love?