Choosing Love First + TBB Linkup

In early spring I first spotted the Love First tee and couldn’t decide between the pink or the navy.  Once I finally decided to grab the pink it was on back order and before it even arrived the new rainbow version popped up and I knew I had to have it! As soon as it arrived I knew wearing with this precious skirt was going to be a huge win.

A few weeks back I had a chance to choose love first.  While pushing my cart through the grocery store I noticed an old man scooting around the produce section on his beat up scooter.  From the corner of my eye I saw him sample a grape or two and it made me instantly curious about his story.  I’m somewhat sensitive to the food insecurity among the senior citizens in our community after realizing how at risk they are and I wondered was he really just checking out the produce or was he needing a little snack.

As I approached the check out line I found myself behind him.  He struggled to put his items from the cart on the front of the scooter onto the conveyer so I moved up and assisted him.  It became fairly obvious at that time he was struggling also mentally a bit.  The cashier checked him out and gave him his total and he began to struggle to pull together the money from his wallet to pay.  At some point my heart just tugged and I knew I was meant to bless this man with the minimal $25 grocery haul.  I never have cash but happened to have enough to hand over to he cashier and it took me a minute of getting face to face with this gentleman to help him understand I had taken care of his groceries.

So that’s all fluff and it’s all about me and my heart but then I watched as the cashier handed him his receipt and the bagger tossed his groceries in the cart and basically pointed him towards the exit.  I was taken aback.  Did these workers not just witness what I did?   This sweet little man needed assistance.  There was no offer to help him to his car with groceries.  No real compassion anywhere in their faces.  He was just one of many customers rolling through their line.

It made me really think about the lack of compassion we have sometimes and why.  It’s not so much we have no heart for loving others.  So why do we choose to walk on by and pass up an opportunity to serve and show love?

A big reason is it’s often uncomfortable.  People in need can be hard to communicate with.  They may look much different than us and honestly they could even smell much different than us.  They may have a disability, speak a different language which could bring attention to the situation.

Sometimes stopping to assist someone takes time.  As busy people often on a mission, taking time to stop and help someone isn’t always convenient.  It often will strip valuable minutes from your day to really stop and render aid to someone who could use the extra hand.

We may have a fear our kindness will be met with resistance or even anger.  Even people who are hurting and in need have pride y’all.  It can also be you do not feel the act will be appreciated and that makes you kind of angry.

Believe it or not, sometimes we choose to walk away because we look at a person and think we already know their story.  Instead of choosing empathy we choose to judge and decide because of their life choices they don’t really deserve our help.   Yes, yes we do.

See, none of these things have a thing to do with showing compassion and love to others and everything to do with our own feelings.  What I can promise you is if your heart is truly in the right place, you will only feel filled up when you choose to act.  So many times I have seen a situation and chosen to keep walking out of my own fear, my own lack of time and I’ve missed a chance to impact another.  By walking by I’ve also missed the chance to mentor to those watching how to truly show compassion.

So the next time you feel that little tug pulling you towards a situation and your head is telling you all the reasons why you shouldn’t get involved, I want  you to try to push aside your head and act with your heart instead.  Remind yourself this is someone’s father, mother, sister, brother, son, daughter; a real, live, human you can love on for just one moment.  You won’t regret those minutes it took to stop and notice a need.

Choose Love First!

Shop the Post

The links in this post may contain affiliate links, which means if you click on the link(s) and purchase an item (at no additional cost to you), I may earn a small commission.  Thank you for helping to support  The Queen in Between blog

Now it’s your turn to linkup with The Blended Blog and share your style!