Ahhh, Valentine’s Day. They should call the holiday “National Look What I Got From Someone” Day, because that’s all you hear about. Facebook photos of chocolates, flowers, and stuffed animals take over the Newsfeed. Single people spend their day scrolling through endless amounts of these photos, wishing they could keep away from doing so and fighting their urge to click “Like” by doing the opposite and posting some anti-Valentine’s Day ditty. Married people spend the day wondering if their significant other got them something, and if so, what? Men scramble in and out of grocery stores around 5p.m., grabbing the last bouquet of red roses and a bottle of wine.
All of this crazy love stuff has me thinking… Why do we value Valentine’s Day?
Do we value it simply because we’re told to, at a young age? Do we value it because it means something to us that someone else goes out of their way to slosh through a snowy parking lot to buy flowers for us? Does it make us feel good? Do we need this holiday, as a reminder that we are loved?
Want to know what I think? I think we value Valentine’s Day because it warrants our place in the world. Julia Roberts once said that finding your soul mate is “being witness to the life of someone else.” How powerful. While some of us go through our days saying “I love you” and doing kind things, Valentine’s Day gives us one day out of 365 that we can focus on expressing our love for others in different ways.
Let me say that again.
Valentine’s Day gives us one day out of 365 that we can focus on expressing our love.
Wow. That’s it. Just one day a year. So what do we do the other 364 days a year? We get busy. We get wrapped up in the mundane, routine activities of our daily life and stop only on occasion for a kiss or a hug and an “I love you.”
So how can we make sure that we focus MORE on expressing our love?
Easy. By loving ourselves. We must love ourselves before we can love other people. And I don’t just mean confidence. I mean an absolute love for the person you are, and the person you have become.
So, whether you’re single or married, male or female, a fan of Valentine’s Day or an outward hater, this letter is intended for you, and is intended to be read aloud. It’s a subtle reminder that you are capable of remarkable things.
Dear Me,
I am beautiful.
I am remarkable.
I offer the world my existence.
I am hard on you sometimes, but I ask forgiveness. I sometimes worry too much about my actions, and miss out on my simple being. I hide behind your true beauty because of my insecurities, but I want your help in letting me free.
I am beautiful.
I am remarkable.
I need noone to tell me such things.
I need no special holiday.
I want nothing in return but greatness.
From this day forward, I will pursue my inner potential.
Because I am remarkable.
And the world deserves remarkable people.
Let your love shine. Let yourself shine. Make this a holiday that spawns a revolution of love.
xoxo