Devotional
My New Mantra
In early January, a podcast I listened to about gratitude inspired me to adopt this mantra for the new year:
Love the life I have
Nothing lasts forever
No one can take my joy
Love the life I have
It starts with love, and I find that so significant. Just turn to 1 Corinthians 13:13. The sentiment in that verse is something I’ve always held dear.
I think we all can benefit from the loving connections we have in our lives, and we can show our love and care for those around us in a variety of ways.
A supportive hug to a friend.
A smile to a stranger.
A reassuring note.
A reassuring text.
A delivery of a meal or flowers to someone deep in grief.
Through what we do, we learn how to show those in our lives how we care, and they receive our actions and words in the way they were intended.
With love.
This can be extremely challenging to do all of the time, but I believe it to be vitally important and personally rewarding. The more I connect with individuals the easier it is to offer them grace and understanding.
When I connect, I find these words from writer H. Jackson Brown Jr. do ring true, “Remember that everyone you meet is afraid of something, loves something and has lost something.”
His words help me see others around me as not some variation of my own identity but as unique human beings with their own unique gifts
The line from my new mantra, “Nothing lasts forever,” gives me the perspective and reassurance I need to understand that the challenges in our lives or a darkness we face is only temporary. Those three words remind me to look for the beauty in small, everyday things around me.
For example, the sky to me is more than a source of light. It is an ever-changing landscape of colors, shapes and textures that reinforces the fleeting nature of things. When I can’t see the sky, I seek out an image of a Maxfield Parrish painting and take a moment to enjoy the clouds I see in his brush strokes.
The other line from my mantra, “No one can take my joy,” proves to be the hardest for me to realize. I often allow someone’s expression or a thoughtless word to dampen my mood. But then I remember Brown’s quote. He helps me keep things in perspective and reminds me that I have no idea the burdens others around me carry.
Very likely, they intended no harm with whatever they said or whatever mood they conveyed, and they may have no idea of how they’re perceived by anyone around them. So, I let it go, I give them grace, and think of the joy I have in me.
No one can take that.
During our Lenten season of reflection, I challenge you to take time to be grateful for the love you see and feel around you in all its various forms. Enjoy the beauty you see and hear. Take comfort in the hope that better times lie ahead. And remember how a kind word or action changed your whole day and think of how you can do the same.
We all can think of new ways to demonstrate love and kindness to those around us. When we do, we can understand what is as powerful as a smile from a stranger or a supportive hug from a friend.
That is the power we see in First Corinthians 13:13. That is the power of love.
By Cana Gyongyos Hill, HPU’s former associate director of student financial planning; health profession and graduate students
