"They All Really Love Me."

Just yesterday I was on the phone with a good friend as he travelled back from a trip where he had seen his family. He was talking about how good it was to see his great nephews and nieces and said, with zero inhibition, "They all really love me." He went on to talk about how when he entered a room they would swarm and pile on, and how they called him a cute variation of his name because the youngest had mis-pronounced his name and it stuck.

While all super-adorable, what stopped me in my tracks was his statement, "They all really love me." It was spoken with such conviction and ease that it struck a deep chord within me and I instantly thought, "can I say that?" and "who could I say that about?"

Sure, people love me, and I could most certainly say that about my sons without hesitation, but these weren't my friend's children...they were a few steps removed. And I'm not sure if I was more struck by his confidence in their love for him or his ownership of that love? I mean it's one thing to win the race, but he was also proud to wear the medal.

So I've decided I'm going to "wear the medal." I'm going to remind myself that I am loved. I am going to speak it out loud. So, for instance, when I tell someone a story about my friend Melissa, I'm going to say, "I was with my friend Melissa, she loves me..." and continue on. When I'm going to a birthday party at my niece's house, I'm going to remind myself, "I'm going to see Alicia, she loves me."

And it's funny, how even writing that last paragraph made me all warm and fuzzy inside. We are all loved, and the people who love us have a lot going on, most of them aren't standing around reminding us all the time. So I'm going to remind myself. I know who loves me, I can feel it, but boy do I feel it stronger when I say it aloud.

I wonder what kind of difference it would make for us if we all

more consistently wore the medal?