Happy February! Does the idea of Valentine’s Day make you nauseous? Or does it make you celebrate? How you answer that question says a lot about your readiness for Love!
What is Valentine’s Day really about? Well, it started as an ancient Roman fertility ritual that used to take place for a few days from Feb. 13-15. Later the Catholic Church, frowning on this pagan practice, named Feb. 14th in honor of a legendary Bishop Valentine who secretly held marriage ceremonies for Roman soldiers when marriage for soldiers was banned under Claudius II. (Undoubtedly, they wanted the pagans to seek marriage through the Church rather than continue their heathen practices!)
Today, we are bombarded with commercial reminders to buy chocolates, cards, gifts, dinners, and take romantic excursions for Valentine’s Day. Many of us either feel pressured to comply, especially men who want to please their partners, or we secretly revolt (see S.A.D. – Singles Awareness Day!).
I’m proposing that you give yourself a new meaning for this holiday on Feb. 14th, and think how YOU would like to celebrate Love – in general!
How would you like to celebrate and invite more Love into your life – in EVERY way?! What is Love anyway? Is it a noun? Or is it actually a VERB?
The other day, I read a great acronym for L.O.V.E. – Let Others Voluntarily Evolve. (This must have been written for those of us with a tendency for Codependence – which might just include all of us at one time or another)!
I like to think of Love as a spiritual practice. If you don’t have an intimate partner to practice on right now, practice being loving to all your friends, family, co-workers, strangers you interact with (cashiers, waiters, clerks) and so on. ESPECIALLY the ones that are HARDEST to Love!!
And the most important person you practice Love with is yourself!
Love for ourselves means not letting our mind entertain us with thoughts that torture us. It also means letting go of judging ourselves and others, not engaging in gossip, and watching the words we choose – because words have a HUGE impact on our souls!
Love for ourselves means taking care of our emotions, processing them thoroughly, and standing up for ourselves. It means finding a loving, inclusive way to ask for what we need, and it means choosing to do things that are hard for us but we know are the right things to do.
Love for ourselves means improving our attitude and striving to be kind. It means taking responsibility, not blaming others, forgiving ourselves, and forgiving others because we don’t want to carry around any poisonous feelings.
If you make your focus practicing Love in EVERY situation, there is no way that intimate, partnering, true, soulmate Love won’t find you!
Just keep your mind and heart open to Love and integrate and dissolve all your Shadow’s blocks to Love! And then – CELEBRATE!!
Our lives are filled with as much Love as we put into them. In the famous words of the Beatles: “In the end, the Love you take is equal to the Love you make.”
Thank you for your words Nijole. Today I will be cooking seafood chowder for a small group of female friends, with the crab my friend and I harvested from our oceans. It will also be a bit of a house warming for my new home as well. I feel more grateful for all these blessings in my life than a box of chocolates could ever bring. And to those who have a sweetheart in your lives to bring you candy, enjoy every bite!
Happy Valentines Day 🙂
Ashley
That is a BEAUTIFUL way to celebrate Valentine’s Day and share the Love with loving friends! My blessings to you all! <3