One of my favorite quotes is from Kurt Vonnegut "love whoever is around to be loved"

It sounds so simple & pretty and ideal.

But whoa, it is hard to do! How to love people that you admittedly don't like? The associations that come with the word 'love' are overwhelming. It is too big of a word, too epic- can sometimes be sentimental and over dramatic.

Then I came across this interpretation from Karen Armstrong's book Twelve Steps to Compassionate Life... unconditional helpfulness.

I don't have to make some big gesture or have a strong emotion to love. I just practice being unconditionally helpful to whoever comes my way. That's doable. That's a start. Maybe I can even be allowed to do it grudgingly . Maybe it is the act of helping that begins a softening toward some connection of shared humanity... or what not. That is what I am currently tinkering around with anyhow.