The Words Left Unsaid | The Thousand Mile Journey

Below is the reflection I wrote today for my church?s lenten blog. If nothing else, just watch the video ? it?ll make your heart go ?awwwww!?

Although this video is called ?Street Compliments,? the words and feelings expressed by the individuals to their family member, significant other, or friend were so much deeper than what we may normally think of as a compliment. They expressed more than the seemingly superficial compliments of ?You look nice,? ?You?re a nice person,? ?You did a good job on such and such.? The compliments in the video spoke to the most precious and admired parts of their loved one?s character and expressed a profoundly deep sense of gratitude for the life of the other.

A few times in the video, we hear someone say something like, ?I?ve never told you this before? or ?I don?t tell you this enough.? How true it is that, more often than not, the people we love and the relationships we cherish the most are the ones we don?t express gratitude for and appreciation of verbally. Too often we take those relationships for granted, assuming the other person knows how we feel about them, and we limit our expressions of love and admiration to holidays, birthdays, and anniversaries. And sometimes even then, we may not express the true depth of how much the other person means to us.

Personally, I have heard too many people lame after the passing of loved one about all the things they didn?t get to say??The words left unsaid? When I think about the people in the video, I can?t help but wonder if those few minutes of giving and getting compliments of the deepest, most meaningful and most loving kind gave their relationships more depth, more meaning, and more love than before. As I reflect back on the moments in my own life where a loved one, whether a friend or a family member, expressed their appreciation for my character and what I bring to our relationship, I remember that I couldn?t help but respond back with my own words of appreciation and love, the words I had left unsaid for far too long. It should come as no surprise that those are the relationships that are the strongest in my life.

So, my challenge to each of you, either today or in the coming week, is to perform an?intentional?act of lovingkindness and reach out to a loved one, maybe even someone who you aren?t as close to anymore, and tell them the words that have been left unsaid.

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Source: http://thethousandmilejourney.wordpress.com/2013/03/02/the-words-left-unsaid/

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