Fall in Love. It’s a Choice.

Fall In Love—by Pedro Arrupe

Nothing is more practical than
finding God, than
falling in Love
in a quite absolute, final way.
What you are in love with,
what seizes your imagination, will affect everything.
It will decide
what will get you out of bed in the morning,
what you do with your evenings,
how you spend your weekends,
what you read, whom you know,
what breaks your heart,
and what amazes you with joy and gratitude.
Fall in Love, stay in love,
and it will decide everything.

I am not a religious person, but when my friend Jen shared this poem with me, I suddenly understood what she is talking about when she talks about God: love. And more importantly, the choice to love.

I know the kind of love Arrupe describes in this poem. His call to “fall in love, stay in love,” makes me feel like a bell is being rung in my heart.

We, all of us, have that choice to fall in love with the mundane, with others, with nature, with the world. And when we do that, we bring a sense of warmth and radiance into every room.

Have you ever met someone and immediately felt a wave of love? I do not mean romantic love, though it could be. I mean radiant love.

When my friend, Kira, came to visit, she brought one of her daughters and her daughter’s friend, Kadija. I do not know what I expected, maybe a shy teen, maybe a young woman who was far from home and entering a new world. What I did not expect was Kadija’s radiant warmth, her beaming smile, her immediate and enveloping hug. And just like that, I fell in love. And so did everybody. There can be no mistaking that choice to love. It is contagious. Her love changed the feeling in the room, washed through the entire weekend, and it comes racing back every time I look at this photo of Kadija.

As a professional actor, my job is to fall in love with many people and the characters they play. As a clinical social worker, I have to find some way to be compassionate and empathic with every single client. As a communication coach, I look to elevate the beauty of human imperfection in every speaker. It is my job. To fall in love.

It is a good practice to look for something to love in everyone.

This week, make the choice to fall in love and watch how others bloom in your presence.