Where am I going with this thought?  I heard the phrase on TV the other night and it triggered a fond memory.  When my oldest child was about five years old, we were very close friends with a family we had met through the day care.  We spent many weekends together with our children in tow.  Trips to the Milwaukee zoo, fireworks, and hikes every where and anywhere there was a trail to be found.  On one of these trips, the “hug a tree crusade” began.  Bailey, my daughter, and Bre, our friends daughter, decided to hug a tree.  It was nothing in particular but it seemed somehow the tree hugged them back.  From that point forward, every tree deemed worthy of a hug received one from this duo.  It became a routine and to this day their trademark.

So where am I going with this thought?  I believe that something as simple as a hug, becomes an exchange.  In their situation it was an exchange of energy.  Their youthful antic energy was in part transferred to the tree while the resilience and strength of the tree was transferred to their ultimate character.  A hug is just that, a transfer of the energy from one person to another.  When I give or receive a hug from another person, part of me is transferred to the receiver and part of the receiver is exchanged with me.  The end result is that we can both leave with more than we came with.  It is a simple act, but it recharges us, comforts us, strengthens us and for a moment brings us peace.

Don’t waste the opportunity.  If you get the chance, hug another person, and if you don’t get that chance, at least hug a tree.  It just might hug you back.