Topic of the Week

The Power of Touch

Last week I traveled to New York to teach at the Hay House Writer’s Workshop on Sunday afternoon.  When I arrived, I had a chance to meet a few of the attendees before hitting the stage.  One young man, Jameal, approached to say hello and I immediately recognized his name as someone I had spoken to several times during my show on Hay House Radio.  It’s always so fun for me to put a face with a familiar name and I asked Jameal if I might give him a hug.  We hugged, chatted for a bit, and I left to begin teaching.

The next morning, I was sitting in the hotel restaurant waiting for a friend to join me for breakfast, when I discovered a wall post from Jameal on my professional Facebook page.  It read:

“Meeting you yesterday and watching you work was profound. I am not normally the kind of person who gets emotional upon meeting a public figure, but as strange as it sounds, seeing you yesterday for the first time ever, the feeling came over me was the feeling one might feel upon seeing a beloved, favorite, loving aunt, lol. I don’t believe I’ve been hugged in 3 years. 

There were so many wonderful things I could say or reminisce about this weekend but I guess there are only really two words that will suffice.  THANK YOU! ;-)“

Wow.  What a brave young man to be so honest in a public forum.  While I was touched by Jameal’s feedback about my teaching, the one line that pulled me up short was, “I don’t believe I’ve been hugged in 3 years.”  If only I had known…

I would have hugged him several times before the day was over.

I would have asked others to hug him.

I would have invited everyone to hug each other.

What a lesson.  For the rest of the day, as I went in and out of meetings in New York, I wondered how many of the people I sat across from hadn’t been hugged in a very long time.  Did they have people in their lives who cared enough or who were able to show their love?  I found myself wanting to hug strangers, friends, business associates, anyone I came in contact with.

What if the friend sitting next to you hasn’t been hugged in three years, the co-worker you spend every day with, or the customer on the other end of the phone?

What if….

Stories like this one remind me that what we see in another person barely scratches the surface.  Behind every face we meet is a human being who needs love.  I’m grateful to Jameal for being courageous enough to offer such an important reminder and now I pass it on to you.

Take Action Challenge

Inspired by dear Jameal, I’m sending you a virtual hug right this minute {{{  #x1F600; }}} Please pass it on…

Of course we need a hug video here.  Thanks, Jameal!