dailydatewithgod

Choosing to love is an act of courage.  We like the big grand gestures but the irony of the courageous choice to love is in its ordinariness.  Yes there are big displays of love which we adore.  The engagement and wedding, Valentine’s Day celebrations, mother’s giving birth, a father rescuing his child from falling off whatever he or she crawled up on, noble peace prizes, and so on.  Most of how love shows up as an opportunity to act in courage is in the everyday.  It is the choice to smile at the person who bumps into you on the ordinary street.  The choice to say thank you to ordinary check out clerk at the grocery store.  The choice to send a card wishing your Aunt a happy birthday.  Choosing to laugh off the person who cuts you off in traffic.  The action of telling someone they are welcome when they say thank you to you.  The choice to compliment the woman in the elevator who has a nice smile.  The decision to tell yourself you are okay after you experience a set back.  These ordinary moments which can take us off course or cause us to question the truth of our being are the moments when fear can take hold.  If instead we choose to act in love despite the fear we are build our muscle of courage.  Perhaps the ordinary  moments are the practice for showing up in loving courage in the bigger moments.  Perhaps the ordinary moments are the ones that matter most because they are the ones happening in the moment we are in.