A soft heart

I purchased a greeting card last week, because I love what it says:  "We are all impressionable when our cement is still wet" open card "You left your mark on me".  (Purchased from Joshua Lee Studio. Wonderful photographer check out his work.)

I bought one card, but there are so many people I want to send it to.  Maybe I should buy a box of them.  As I thought about all the people I want to send it to, I realized my cement is still wet.  And I hope it never dries.

To me, wet cement is a metaphor for a soft heart.  A heart that is open to learning, a heart that is changed by love.  Each and every person that I have allowed myself to love, and who has loved me have left a mark on me.  I am more tolerant because of my soft heart.  I am more forgiving because of my soft heart.  I ache with sorrow because of my soft heart.  I shed bitter tears because of my soft heart.  But I pray that it never hardens.

I believe life on earth is a journey back to our Creator.  We are here on earth for a blink in time, and what does that mean?  I want my time here to be as full as it can possibly be.  And that means relationships and people.  It means allowing my soft heart to be bruised and healed time and time again.  It means allowing my soft heart to feel as if it is so full it will break, and also so empty it will collapse.

The best use I can make of my time on earth is to love as unconditionally as I can.  Sometimes, the only way to express that love is through prayer.  Sometimes it is through works.  Sometimes it is through sacrifice.  

But if I can try as hard as I can to be guided by love, by that soft, bruised and damaged heart, I can change the world.  I believe all the love and positive energy we put in the world lasts long after we are gone. 

Love is a legacy.  The memories of the love you shared will last.  The example you can set of unrelenting love can inspire.

Keep your cement wet, my friends.  It is the only way your footprints will endure.