Love Your Neighbor

neighbors

Stressful times in our country continue. With this comes heightened levels of anxiety, depression, anger, and feelings of being out of control. We get it. We have been there too. These feelings are real. Times ARE turbulent. We DO have differing opinions on these issues than our friends, family, or neighbors. But do we want to give into fear, anger, and bad behavior? We would think most of us would answer “no.”

We want to encourage you to remember what many of us were taught as children: love your neighbor as yourself.  What exactly does this mean? A recent blog we read stated, “Loving our neighbor goes far beyond peering over the fence. To love our neighbors means to serve our communities so that we are giving back what we receive. A continuous flow of goodwill and peaceful intent.”

We know the people in our little corner of SW Florida are very kind and generous people. Put under stress, even the best of us can find ourselves reacting negatively. To combat these feelings, we need to be intentionally working on averting these feelings. So, what does it look like to love your neighbor?

Here are 5 tips:

  1. Be Kind. Smile. A genuine smile has tremendous influence on others. Right? We know what it feels like to be greeted with a smile. Use that smile daily!
  2. Be fair and ethical. What type of success crosses the lines of morals and human dignity? Set high standards and stick to them. In everything.
  3. Be generous. We are not just talking about money here. We can give of our time, skills, kindness, joy, and prayers for others.
  4. Be watchful. Look for opportunities to help others vs focusing on yourself. See a need, be the hand that helps. Do you know someone in your circle who must stay indoors due to illness? Give them a call, bake them some banana bread, or write them a note.
  5. Break the cycle. Do not feed into negativity, complaining, or fear. These things hurt us in many ways – by destroying relationships, causing pain, and depleting our immune systems. Our bodies thrive on peace, love, and joy. Let us spread it around to others! Love your neighbor!