‘Shower the people you love with love…’

Thank you, James Taylor, for blessing us with those genius lyrics. I have been singing that song in my head for many years now and the more that I hear it, the deeper the meaning of the song becomes. I was able to equate it to a sermon I heard once in church. I John 3:18 says, “Let us stop saying that we love people, let us really love people and show it by our actions.”

My takeaway from that is we should not wait until it’s convenient or when we have enough courage to tell people about how you feel about them. We should let go of our pride and should not be afraid to be vulnerable when speaking from the heart. Being the strong, silent type only gets you so far, especially if we expect our loved ones to “just know” that we care for them even if we never say it. That’s a big mistake in my book. Many times, at funerals, we hear long lists of praises for the deceased, but I often wonder if those kind words ever made it to the ear of the beloved while they were still living. And how much more impact, how much more bang for the buck could have been gained if only someone hadn’t waited to share their love for others. It’s easy to put things like this off, to hesitate, I get that, and I am pretty good at it, too. It’s uncomfortable and sometimes flat-out difficult just to get the words formed and actually out in a form of speech but take it from me – the risk outweighs the reward bigtime.

Remember getting an actual hand-written letter in the mail? There is an excitement of what could be inside and a sort of reverence for the sender, that they actually took the time to send something special to you. I have a couple of shoe boxes full of letters that were written to me from my Mom, my Grandmother, and others during my active-duty time in the Army. I still reread those letters sometimes even though they are over 30 years old now. Anyone can delete an e-mail, but no one can delete a letter. Once it’s written, sent, and received, it’s physically there and since it took some effort to get it to you, it has innumerous more value than anything digital. I am telling you this, my dear readers, because letter-writing is not dead.

I use letters and cards as one of my (not so) secret weapons to let people know how they have impacted my life and maybe have made the world a better place. And you can do this too. A simple hand-written thank-you note is a great place to start. This way you will have all the time you need to get your words together like you want. There is a bit of wordsmithing here, but you might be better than you think. I promise that you will get out way more than you put in.

Remember the last time you gave an extra-special gift to someone? Remember how good it made YOU feel? That’s the same benefit you will receive when you make the effort, when you take that first uneasy step and reach out to someone you care for. Life is too short for us not to “shower the people we love with love” and to “tell them the way that we feel.” It’s a gift you have to give while you’re still living. So please, folks, give the gift. You’ll be glad you did. Make it rain.

Alan Shoalmire is a resident in Grimes County and the owner of Grill Sergeant Hotdogs and submits a column to the Navasota Examiner every other week.