– Martha N. Beck
For many years, I was happily naive, for I looked for only the good in people and situations, and that is pretty much all I found. While this innocent approach empowered me to love everyone as a kindred spirit, it did leave me sorely unprepared for some ‘real world’ experiences that profoundly shook my faith in humanity. I’m no longer as innocent as I once was, for I now see that while the world is full of kind, loving and even heroic people, it is also full of people who are endlessly angry, self-focused, and even evil in their desire to get whatever they want regardless of how it affects others. My latest realization is that perhaps my faith-shaking experiences have been good for me; perhaps they are a sign that I’m ready to learn to ride bigger waves of love. It’s easy to be full of smiles and kindness when people act in ways that please us; when we find ourselves struggling to find a way to love, accept or forgive someone for something ugly, we can be sure we’re in the process of growing bigger hearts.