Today is Valentines Day and it is not one of my favorite holidays. Does that make me an unloving person? I sure hope not. For you see, I try and tell the people I love that I care for them, as often as possible. Why do I need a forced day of cards I don’t write or chocolate that we don’t eat?
I buy flowers for myself fairly often. I don’t mind that my husband doesn’t send them – he shows he cares in so many other ways, like doing the laundry and folding my underwear for me, by calling every day at 5:10pm and asking if there is anything I need him to pick up on the way home and by demonstrating patience when he could clearly be annoyed.
Every day, at least 10x before dinner, my daughter walks by me and says, “I love you, mommy.” I don’t need a card to put in a box to remember the sound of her voice. She shares her music with me, tells me her thoughts and feelings and puts her hand on my shoulder when I am sad.
Last night, a young friend of my daughter’s called and asked her if she liked him. She was totally bummed. She likes him as a friend, but found his question awkward and now feels a sense of loss, not gain. She spent the evening in tears. She has just been thrust into that awkward time of young emotion. I’m sure that is not what the folks at Hallmark had in mind.
As I walked the park this morning, I tried to think of all the things I love and all the people that fill my heart with delight. I said thank you to the Universe for the fact that I was walking, that the Rec Center was open so I could use a clean bathroom, that I have friends and family that I profoundly enjoy, that I could afford to shop at Target and that they carry Annies Fruit Snacks and Kelloggs Frosted Mini Wheats and socks so that I only have to make one stop. That Saturday night my husband and I raised a glass to how much we still like each other (24 Valentines Days later) and that my dear friend has finally found love, as well. As I laid beside my daughter last night and listened while she cried, and then watched as her humor re-emerged, I thought, “This is what love feels like”.
There is so much to love in our lives; so many people and so many little things. I pray that each day is a form of Valentines Day and that whether or not I make red food or go years between talking with someone, that my love is known, both to myself and to others.
If you are reading this, I pray that you may know love in whatever way love fits for you. And then, consider making this Valentines Day into Groundhog Day. Live loving moments over and over. Why love only on one day, when there are so many we are so lucky to have?
How do you MindFULLY show someone you love them? Let us know!
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