One thing...

A question occurred to me today. It's not an uncommon question. But for some reason I felt I could genuinely answer it for possibly the first time.

If there was one thing you can do to change someone's life, what would it be?

My answer is very simple. Yet I feel it's power is profound and not widely accepted.

I would hug that person. 

Most might think that a hug would not make that much of a difference. But watch people. When a person genuinely accepts another's embrace, their response is quite simply, joy.  

And as I have pondered before, joy is what we are truly seeking, not happiness. Happiness is a very shallow emotion and emotions change so quickly. Yet joy is something we experience and is much more fulfilling. The things that bring us joy don't change as frequently, whether it's an activity or a person, we will return to "it" time and time again to be fulfilled.

I've never seen a person unsatisfied with a hug that they accepted from another individual.

Now, I know there are people we wouldn't be happy to hug or to receive a hug from. But when you have been accepting of that person, have you ever been dissatisfied by their embrace?

Our society today discourages platonic embraces. I know, because I was a public school teacher. I was asked not to hug my students good bye on my last day in the classroom with them. How sad! And I find our nation in general, is SAD.

People are busy. Working, going to school, or just simply distracted by monotonous media of many forms (TV, internet, catalogs, magazines, etc.). And we are FOOLED to think that some medias are social. We get shallow satisfaction from participating in medias such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and SnapChat. We miss out on the most fulfilling aspect of human interaction by participating in these passive exchanges.

People need hugs. I'm convinced anyway. What do you think?