April 18, 2025 - Choose to Spend Time with Those Who Love You

I realize when you feel alone, are being bullied, have to deal with physical and/or mental challenges, or are part of the queer community - especially if you are Trans or non-binary, "choosing peace" may sound like a nice thing, something you would love to do, but may feel quite difficult - if not impossible to actually accomplish. But, the first step to this is to choose to spend time with those who love you. It may be easy to just isolate and keep to yourself, but it is a healthy thing for you to spend time with those who love you - doing so makes you stronger and gives you joy.

I know I tend to talk quite a lot about loving the people who love you, but it is essential. When you are blessed with people who love you and who "have your back", this gives you significant strength and when you are in a place of strength it makes you more able to experience and hold on to peace and joy. If you have parents who are there for you, accept you, and stand up for you, then they certainly love you and "have your back". If you have grandparents, extended family, and friends who do these things for you, then they also certainly love you and "have your back". Surround yourself with people who love you, "have your back" and make the choice to love them back. Doing this will put you in a place to experience peace and joy.

I found a wonderful article from Psychology Today which talks about this - I'm sharing the link so you are able to read all of it, but want to highlight a few things . . . 

• Sometimes you need to know good people have your back when things go wrong. Good relationships can bring peace of mind, not to mention longer life, companionship, health, happiness, and a host of other benefits.
• When your social safety net is full of holes, it’s a challenge to maintain your peace of mind. Relationship worries can prevent a good night’s sleep or a good day’s work. When your relationships are humming along smoothly, on the other hand, it’s much easier to feel peace of mind.
• Make the conscious decision to put your relationship health at or near the top of your priority list.
• Choose to spend more time with people who have your interests at heart and can help you grow into the person you want to be.
• Thank your friend when he does something for you. Stay in touch with people who have helped you.
• Finding good people and groups for mutual support is a lifetime pursuit and is not always easy. Still, it’s worth it for your peace of mind. 

So, make a point of it today to thank the people in your life who love you and who "have your back". Commit to be a person who loves back and "has their back", too. These things will help you build strong relationship and this will give you peace and joy - which are ABSOLUTELY things you deserve!

Once again today I want to send you my virtual "hug" - You matter. You deserve to be loved and are loved - I love you! You make our world a better place - we need you in this world. I hope you have people around you who tell you these things, but if not, please let me be someone who does. Yes, I say this every day, but these words are true and will always be so. You will find the video at this link.