Start with LOVE

I work as a School Counselor at a public high school. On a
daily basis I am confronted with challenging situations and do my assist students in dealing with a variety of personal, social, and academic needs.  Each day is a new
adventure and requires that I help students (and adults) come up with valid
solutions to their current situations. 

Today, though, a quick, valid solution was hard to come by. 

I had multiple
conversations with students and faculty members that are completely overwhelmed
with the amount of work that needs to be done. Not just assignments, projects,
and deadlines, but the REAL WORK in life- the hard, messy work of
loving those around us, of dealing with difficult people, of feeling like you
can’t swing the tide of all the negative things going on in society, and of
trying to make a change in life when everything is going against you.

And friends, there are no easy answers.

If I allow myself to
dwell on the enormity of a task, I’ll become too overwhelmed to tackle it.

So I begin with what I know- 

I don’t KNOW how to change all of society, but I DO know how
to change MY little corner of it.

I don’t know how to change the people around me that so
vehemently want to use hate and hurt to wound and destroy, but I CAN react in a
different way than they have experienced before. 

Instead of looking at how big the work is, I just begin by doing what I can.  

Changing the world starts by changing the space that I am a part of. And the
same is true for you.

Want to bring about change? Love the person beside you.

Want to see more grace
and peace in the world? Then show grace in your own relationships.

Change begins with love.

It doesn’t mean forfeiting convictions but it does mean welcoming everyone to
the table and beginning with love.

I can’t do everything, but I can do something. And so can you. 

Maybe you’re feeling overwhelmed today, too. Maybe it all just seems too hard
so it’s easier to just give up and stop trying.

JUST BEGIN THE WORK.