I have been practicing and meditating on loving kindness for the past couple of weeks and it has had a huge impact on my state of being - mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual.

With everything going on in the US and in the world, I can easily get consumed with frustration, anger, and despair. There is a place for frustration and anger and despair - the emotions themselves are not bad - it is the effect that they have that can become harmful. What I notice is that when I am angry, I brood; I get caught up in unpleasant thoughts that can spiral out of control. It darkens my mood and the mood of others around me. I even catch myself saying or doing harmful things. 

When we are angry, we have to measure our actions to ensure we are not acting out of anger or hatred. When we act of our anger, we end up hurting ourselves and others. 

So, we have to redirect ourselves toward love and act from a place of loving kindness. 

Never underestimate the impact that love can have. When we act out of love instead of anger, we can still take strong stands, impact a course of events, and affect the world.