I believe in the power of music to heal. This past week at my job as an addictions counselor, I played a song for some of my clients in a group I facilitate. It’s called That Wasn’t Me and is sung by pop star Brandi Carlile. When I first heard it, it was clear that it was about recovery.  My favorite line comes in  the form of a question:

“Do I make myself a blessing to everyone I meet?”

It gives me goose bumps to consider that we each have the power to change lives; our own and those with whom we cross paths when we intentionally live as blessings. When I asked about people’s interpretations of the song in the group, one of the men said he thought it arrogant to think that we could do that. And then he went on to describe a conversation with his brother who asked why people at the mall kept smiling at him. His response was that he smiled first. “There you go!” That was what I meant and he got it this time. It’s the pay it forward concept at work. We never know whose life we will impact by intending to be a blessing.

From the Merriam Webster dictionary comes this definition:

bless·ing

noun

For me, it’s  a matter of mindful awareness of the ways that I impact the world around me. When I judge (which I sadly do, more often than I would prefer), I am putting toxic energy into the world. I had an experience yesterday that falls into this category.