Choose Love as Love Conquers All

I have resided in Orlando, Florida since 2007 and call this my home. I fell in love with Orlando because of how different it was than the place I grew up. I grew up in a place where I never felt loved or accepted. I was born in New Jersey and are of Italian decent. I was raised in a small town in North-West Florida and I always stuck out like a sore thumb and was bullied in school for being considered a Yankee and an Italian. I had a very miserable childhood because of my dysfunctional Father and the mean kids in school who bullied me because of my background.

I enjoy living in Orlando because I blend in here as a result of all of the diversity. I can wear whatever I want and not worry about harsh criticism. I do not have to stress out about being judged for my Italian last name or where I was born. I feel free to be myself and just live my life as I see fit.

After nine years of living here without personally experiencing any hate or persecution I never dreamed I would ever see a “ground zero” here in Orlando, Florida. Orlando is such a loving and happy place that I do not understand why people would want to come here and spread their hate and destruction. All I know for sure right now is that we need more love in the world.

When I was a little girl in school I was tormented for being different. It hurt so bad and I thought something was wrong with me that caused the other children to lash out at me. Being bullied destroyed my self-esteem and self-confidence because I thought I was born defective. I had no idea that the children were just reacting to the fact that I was different and people fear the unknown.

When we as humans are fearful of the unknown or unfamiliar and fear can produce negative emotions such as hate, jealousy, and anger. Instead reacting out of fear we should take the time to educate ourselves. We should be more patient, tolerant, and empathetic. We need to replace our fear and other negative emotions with love and acceptance.

When Jesus walked the earth he walked it with love. Did he stone the Woman at the well? No, he showed her love and compassion. Even when people were unkind to Jesus he was loving and just turned the other cheek. We need to follow the example of Jesus and live life with love.

I was fortunate because while other parents in the small town that I grew up in taught racism to their children my Mother taught me to love everyone. My Mother always reminded me to treat others as I wanted to be treated. “Do to others as you would have them do to you.” Luke 6:31 NIV

There were periods of time in my life when I was bitter about my childhood. I would look back and wish that I would have retaliated against those who hurt me. Then there were times that I blamed myself and allowed it to haunt me. Other times I was just plain angry. One day I heard something that changed my life. The wise words of Oprah opened my eyes and my heart! “You can choose to be angry and bitter or you can choose to get better!”-Oprah Winfrey

I learned that I could either choose to live a life full of love or a life full of hate. Hate comes from fear and fear comes from darkness. Love feeds the spirit and the soul while fear weakens your spirit. Other names for fear is jealousy, anger, frustration, and self-doubt. (Oprah Winfrey) I have noticed something since I decided to become more spiritual and loving. When I do things with love they turn out very successful. On the other hand when I do without love they do not always turn out well. For example, when I cook a family dinner with love in my heart and soul it turns out so delicious but if I am not feeling well and cook out of necessity it either burns or does not taste all that good. “Let all that you do be done with Love.”1 Corinthians 16:14 ESV

If upon waking up I pray and meditate and take on my day with love I have noticed that I have a much more pleasant and productive day. Prayer returns me to a place of love. While meditation relieves stress and connects me with my higher self which also brings about love in my heart. It has been my personal experience that out of control stress and a lack of spiritual practice allows anger to fester and build up. I feel that meditation and prayer prevents anger from building up and getting out of control. It is my responsibility to keep myself in a loving and peaceful state of mind. “Love is everything that lights you up!” –Oprah Winfrey

I believe that love attracts love while hate attracts hate. I feel that if we each make a conscious choice to choose love that we can spread more love out into the world. Every morning I pray and ask God to help me to be a shining light and to light up every room that I walk into. I pray that I can be a blessing to everyone that I meet throughout my day. It is my prayer that I can spread love throughout the world. I am determined to be the change that I want to see in the world.

When I go to the grocery store or pharmacy I try to smile at the cashier and be kind. You never know what someone is going through in life. You never know what kind of day they are having. I know how it feels to be mistreated and do not wish anyone else to experience it. “Everyone you meet is fighting a battle you know nothing about. Be Kind. Always.”-Ian Maclaren In my humble opinion we are in dire need change because the world is spiraling out of control. The violence is growing daily. I see this every day when I watch the news on TV. I never expected there to be a mass shooting right here in Orlando, Florida. We need more love, compassion, and empathy toward one and another. “Love conquers all; let us to surrender to love.” -Virgil

I feel that we need to live life with love and be loving to our neighbors. We need to treat others as we would like to be treated. When we are done wrong we need to turn the other cheek like Jesus and pray for our enemies. We should to be kind to everyone we encounter throughout the day. We need to greet everyone with a smile because smiles are contagious! A smile can go a long way when someone is having a challenging day. If we want more love and less hate in the world we need to take responsibility to be the change that we want to see in the world. We can’t play the blame game or ignore the hate. We need to do our part by spreading love and kindness everywhere we go. We need to teach our children old fashioned values.

^“ Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away.”- 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 NIV

Love is the answer and the cure! Love can heal anything. Love can move mountains! Love conquers all!