Love
It’s February 14th, the day we in the USwith recognize as Valentine’s Day, I’m going to hop right on board with everyone else out there on the internets and use today as a reminder of Love. I mean that’s legitimately what holidays can be for us all, a reminder to show others gratitude, an excuse to get together with people you’re most close to, a common day to share with family. So I’m going to use today in the same sense, to remind us all of love.
We have all different types of love. Romantic love, friendship love, we can love actions that people do, we can love a hobby, we can truly love whatever we care to. On top of that, all these different types of love take on different properties. You’re not going to kiss your dumbbells because you love to use them for your workout (well maybe you do, and that’s cool, no judgement here), but you’re most likely going to kiss your romantic interest out of love. The love you feel for a parent is different than that of a sibling than that of a friend than that of a pet. It’s ever changing and that’s the beauty of this feeling. It can take on different shapes for all situations, but the important part is to show the love.
As people, we’re often conditioned to keep this love for ourselves and the ones most close to us. Although, I feel like the love we share with those close to us is very important, we should extend that love to others that are not in that close group, like the mailman or the random person you cross paths with at the store. A smile should do the trick or a simple, “hey there, how are you doing?” can go miles to make a person feel loved and cared for. Our society does an amazing job of creating individualism, which is great to allow us all to express ourselves in our truest form. But this individualism can also lead to isolation if we’re unaware. We’re all out here just trying to feel loved and cared for. I can guarantee you that the more love you send out to others, the more you’ll receive back.
So as we all move forward in our day/week/month/year/life, I ask that you take a look at where you’re extending your love. I ask that you look for, and actively recognize, the things you enjoy about others, even in the ones who aren’t particularly your favorite people. We all have good qualities and I know that the more you see these in others and embrace them, the more love you’ll feel in yourself.
Happy Valentine’s Day, friends!