Love cures people -- both the ones

Receiving a loving hug from a parent or perhaps a smile from a friend or even a stranger gives us a special feeling inside.

We know we are important to others when they show us their love through attention.

And we sometimes forget that we matter to others.

Family members and friends feel good in the same way when we show them our love.

Everyone needs to be loved. 

How can we show our love? Must it be through a hug?

Doing a favor for someone is loving. Helping around the house or the yard is loving, particularly when we've volunteered our help. Giving an unexpected gift to a friend is a way of showing love.

Showing others we care, even when they are angry, is perhaps the nicest of all expressions of love.

Think of kisses made of candy.

Therefore, there must be a thousand and one ways to give a kiss.

We can give one made of wild flowers picked in the ditch,

the melody in a music box,

the few true words in a note,

or the picture we ourselves draw to give to the one we love.

Think of how we can hide them here and there under pillows, in corners, in pockets where they're sure to be seen and felt.

Think of how hearts kiss when we hug or hold hands, how sleeping beauties suddenly wake up.

Our dreams give us a direction to fly.

Birds fly toward the light for joy, toward green leaves for shelter, to water and berries for food. In the same way, our dreams direct us to the course of our own joy, shelter, and nourishment. 

Sometimes as we fly, we bump into disappointments. They may temporarily stun us or slow us down. 

But just like birds that are occasionally wounded, we can heal ourselves and fly again.

We can choose to not let the hardships of life break our spirited wings.

Rather, we can keep spreading our wings, soaring in the spirit of joy.