Humans Love, That's What They Do

Hopefully, this will be an easy article to write. I always think I love more than I hate, so let's see if I can come up with 10 specific things I love about people.

1) First of all, I love the element of surprise in the human race. True, sometimes it's good surprise and sometimes, it's bad surprise, but surprise is an ever-present aspect of the human condition. Just when you think you know someone, they'll knock your socks off by doing something you don't expect. I once left my daughter home while I went away for the weekend. We live out in the middle of nowhere and she didn't have a license which meant she and her sister were going to have to stay home and keep each other company. I started to take my keys and my daughter pointed out that if an emergency occurred, they may need to drive the car down to the café to get help. I didn't expect her to use the car without permission, but stated the consequences if she did anyway, just in case. She was a very responsible girl who though she got into trouble once in a while new the difference between BIG trouble and little trouble. So, I left the keys and was totally blown away when I got home and she handed me a note on which she had penned a confession about taking the car without my permission. Nothing bad happened. No accidents occurred so I could have gone the rest of my life without knowing, but she had to let me know. I was totally taken by surprise that this girl would risk her life by driving my car (a stick shift) without permission!

Of course, there are good surprises too, like the time I offered my girls the choice of giving up a Christmas stocking full of treats in order to give two children who I was told weren't going to get anything for Christmas a gift. My girls willingly and happily gave up their Christmas stocking although they were only going to get one present each. I was surprised and pleased by their choice; although, later, I was not happily surprised when I found out that besides all the gifts I and other members of our class had donated to these kids, they had also gotten a bike each by their mom's parents. Pleasant or unpleasant, you can always count on being surprised by human beings.

2) I love how creative folks are, don't you? In my smallish circle of friends, I have friends that play the violin, friends that quilt, friends that belong to a chorus, friends who have been involved in theater, and lots of friends who have turned cooking into a form of art. We have monthly potlucks at my workplace and I must say the creativity and skill shown in the cooking arena by these women blows me away.

Creativity seems to be an innate aspect of the human spirit. When folks are faced by tragedy, their creativity often bubbles to the surface in order to find solutions to their life's problems. Look at our paralympic games. Many folks after losing a limb or more, would be totally understood if they chose to sit on their hinies and just feel sorry for themselves. Instead, someone came up with the paralympics which gives men and women a motivation for developing their strengths while keeping themselves as healthy as possible. A few years ago, I bought some raffle tickets from some kids involved in Special Olympics. They didn't have the money to put on their games so they had done crafts to sell. I bought several beautiful little angels they had created. It seems humans answer problems with creativity more often than not and that allows their true beauty to shine in their crafts and deeds.

3) I love human touch. I am a hugger so my entire life, I've been aware of those who like to touch and be touched and those who do not. Usually, there is some kind of abuse involved in the lives of those who don't like to be touched and the sadness is quite visible. But for those who can give and take a pat on the back or stroke of the hand, it always amazes me the change I see in the giver and the receiver at the moment of touch. For a moment they seem to be transformed into more peaceful beings.

This may be one of my loves because I'm a Reiki practitioner and know firsthand the benefits of touching someone and exchanging energy. We are so much more than flesh and bone. Our flesh seems to take in the stresses of our daily lives and hold onto them. Our faces become more and more closed as troubles and worries pile up on us. Our shoulders move closer and closer to our ears as we try to carry our burdens. Then, someone comes along and puts a hand on our back or an arm around our shoulder and shares the weight, injecting a sense of being loved into our soul and those worries, troubles, and burdens seem not so bad. I love that people are willing to share that.

4) This brings me to another form of contact I love which I have come to recognize as a gift people give to each other: Eye contact and smiles. When you are in a large group, listening to a speaker, do you ever look around at everyone else at the meeting? Usually, the others are looking this way or that, not meeting your gaze. Then, suddenly, you see someone who is looking straight into your eyes and it's almost like an "Aha" moment. You feel a little shock of recognition, even when you don't know that person. The next thing that usually happens is you smile at each other and that smile says "I see you" which gives you a sense of connection.

I love the way those silent meetings make you feel. The same thing happens when you are walking down the streets of a busy city. Eye contact and smiles bounce from face to face, tying us together as the human race. We belong to each other and those small acknowledgements, which don't cost us a thing, let us feel that connection.

5) Generosity. Now, there's something I love about folks. Usually, family members are generous to each other, but I've had the wonderful opportunity to be recipient of the generosity from many who are not related to me at all. As a young, divorced mother of two, who had no financial support from the ex or from my bio family, I was needing to find a way to pay moving fees and buy furniture all at once. My friend's mom and dad brought over bunk beds for my kids, along with bedding, and dressers. Their kindness helped me to stay afloat and made us all feel loved.

Some people's generosity seems to know no bounds. I think about how much of herself Mother Theresa gave to those she helped. She truly gave all she was and all she had. How many folks can you name that have lived lives filled with such giving spirits? The wonderful thing is that there are many! We each have our favorites and we each have been touched by someone else's generosity.

6) Humor has to rank in the top ten of things I love about people. Irma Bombeck filled my childhood with oodles and boodles of funny stories, Jack Benny kept me giggling with his comedy routines, and Laurel and Hardy literally made me fall over laughing with their antics. But, the cool thing is that you can see humor everywhere you go among your coworkers, family members, service folks, etc. Nothing makes me smile at work more than when one of my coworkers hears someone laughing in another room and marches in there with a stern look on her face. She shakes her finger at them and says, "Now we will have NO laughing in here. Not a bit." So, of course we all fall apart laughing at that. After a laugh or to, we seem to all feel refreshed and revitalized, as though we can handle the stresses of working at a hospice office better.

7) You know what I have noticed about humans as a whole? We seem to have a desire to be surrounded by beauty. I don't mean expensive art, either. I guess part of this is the creativity which I already talked about, but humans seem to want their surroundings to be shaped in such a way that it is pleasing to the eye and spirit. You find businesses that bring in green plants to soften corners in sterile rooms and play lilting music to distract you from other not so pleasant sounds.

There is a yard not far from where I live, a rather large one, where the owners have built little oases of gardens throughout the three or so acres, filling each spot with pleasant shapes of various sizes while leaving wide, smooth spaces in between. I've been welcomed into homes that are painted colors that complement the furniture and have walls that let in plenty of light, creating an airy, fun place to be. We don't seem to have the ability to just create the most economical living/working spaces. We want them to lift our spirits. We want to be able to revel in their beauty.

8) One thing I love about people, most people, at least, is their never-ending thirst for knowledge. The folks I've met throughout my life almost all have wanted to know more about everything. They read, watch documentaries, and experiment to learn more about everything that surrounds them. This has lead to our walking on the moon, being able to replace hearts and lungs, and our being able to go around the world within hours. We've learned to create boxes that sit on our desk and allow us to visit folks on the other side of the world and write articles for companies that are in other states. We can do so much and will continue to learn and develop as long as man is on the face of the earth because we HAVE to continue learning more.

9) This may sound a bit silly, but I love that humans start as babies. I love those cute, cherubic faces, the sweet "uh" and "guh" sound that comes out of angelic lips. I love the way babies expect that their elders will take care of all their needs and when those needs are met, learn to face the world without fear. I love the innocence babies bring into the world. It shines from their little faces as they look eagerly from face to face and from thing to thing. Babies are definitely one of the things I love best about humans.

10) Lastly, I love that most humans find comfort in being kind to animals. We seem to need animals to be around us in order to feel fully alive. I've seen more folks be silly with their animals than with other humans. It's almost as we think our pets and wildlife give us permission to be children again. Men and women walk around with dogs on leashes or parrots on shoulders and feel like it's okay to connect with the rest of the human race. These same folks, when out and about without their pets are often much more closed off and afraid to connect. In return, they offer animals love, food, shelter, and in modern times, the latest in pet fashion.

I have a relative who has always had a hard time connecting with her family members, even her kids. However, let her see an abandoned dog walking along the street and all the nurturing spirit within her comes out. She becomes the picture of kindness and thoughtfulness. It breaks her heart to see an animal abused or left to starve. Animals bring out in her all of the best parts.

I love when folks can respond to animals with such selflessness. They will spend their hard-earned cash to make sure that animal has exactly what they need. They will sleep with the animal or wake themselves up several times a night to make sure the poor thing has food or medicine. I've seen people nurse baby birds who had to be fed every hour on the hour for three days straight. That's a selflessness that you don't see all the time and it's because of their response to the need in another living creature. The animal brings out all the loving kindness they hold inside. I love that.

On the whole, humans are lovable. They may not each hold every aspect of a loving being, but they do all hold at least one. The way they react to their surroundings, other humans, and animals demonstrates clues to which aspects of a loving being they hide within. I guess that's what I love most about humans is that they all love.