What truly is the most important thing to you? Take a moment to ponder this and see what your answer is. Remember there is no wrong answer.
I have seen the answers to be: Shelter, love and family; Staying spiritually awake and honouring the gift and the giver; Being open and vulnerable to accept and embrace whatever gifts the Universe chooses to give me whether recognizable as gifts or appearing as ‘curses’ at first; Happiness and stability; Being present and fully engaged in the world and being fully accountable for thoughts, words and actions; To lead a contributive life and a hopefullife and a connected life; Being perfectly imperfect.
My answer?
Love.
From love comes compassion, self-respect and respect for others.
From love comes forgiveness for both ourselves and others.
From love comes the ability to open to grace.
From love comes understanding of our divine and human condition.
From love comes gratitude for all we are given, for all is for our spiritual growth.
From love comes joy and bliss and we can then infect others with those just by being.
From love comes the capacity to see another without judgment.
From love comes the ability to give with generosity and purity without expectation of return.
From love comes the depth of being one with all, for all is one.
“Love has no other desire but to fulfill itself. But if you love and must needs have desires, let these be your desires: To melt and be like a running brook that sings its melody to the night. To know the pain of too much tenderness. To be wounded by your own understanding of love; And to bleed willingly and joyfully. To wake at dawn with a winged heart and give thanks for another day of loving; To rest at the noon hour and meditate love’s ecstasy; To return home at eventide with gratitude; And then to sleep with a prayer for the beloved in your heart and a song of praise upon your lips.”~ Kahlil Gibran
If you
...prefer your drama in your life instead of on a stage
...mistake kindness for weakness
...judge others in the worst possible light
...get your exercise jumping to conclusions
...speak without considering the consequences of your words on others
...act without considering the consequences of your actions on others
...glean satisfaction from others pain
...find lying easy and even do it without cause
...find yourself lying and don’t correct yourself because you will look ‘small’
...find yourself in the wrong and don’t apologize because you will look ‘small’
...being wrong doesn’t even bother you
...take and do not give back more than you take
...find yourself in any one of these on this list
Then…
I do not call you friend
Now if you
...treat all, even those who can do you no good, with compassion and care
...need give no promise for your word is sufficient
...believe the very best of folk
...ever strive to be a better person
...speak for the voiceless and disenfranchised
...hold the rich and the poor of equal value, as are the races, the sexes and the orientations
...look each person in the eye and treat all equally, no more, no less
...understand that your humanity is to be embraced not rejected
...do all the good you can at every opportunity
...build and create, understanding that at times this needs best be done from ashes
...pursue the realism of humility
...leave ego at the door
...do your best with this list and sometimes fall short
...find yourself in any one of these on this list
Then even if we have not yet met
I call you friend