Happy Valentine's

THEN:
You can Google anything and everything these days. I love it! I Googled the meaning of Valentine's Day and here's just a little of what came up. It seems that in ancient times, Valentine's Day marked the remembrance of a man, a bishop by the name of Valentine, who disobeyed the Emperor by marrying young Roman soldiers (he was killed for his disobedience).

NOW:
Again, according to Google, love has stages so Valentine's Day means different things to different people at different stages of their lives.  Unfortunately, in my opinion, in our culture we've designated only one day to express love, gratitude, and appreciation for loved ones and commercialized it by making it almost mandatory to give gifts of candy, cards, jewelry, etc.  These tokens of love are given more out of obligation/expectation than sincerity. Do I sound tainted? I hope not! 

Anyway, I was in church last Sunday and the minister talked about all of us making sure we held love in our hearts no matter what. Circumstance & situation should not take us out of love. Rev. Ramey went on to say, "Love is the absence of fear." Fear, as she stated, can manifest itself as feelings of isolation, loneliness & even war. Letting go of fear leads to a better life and a more loving spirit. This of course, would require a significant shift in one's mindset! 

The overall message was very interesting but when she said a good time to activate love is in an irritating situation. I said WHAT!  She used the analogy of the grain of sand in the oyster that starts as an irritation but becomes a pearl. Then it made more sense but would take some serious practice for many of us.

This Valentine's Day why not set the intention to give your love, gratitude, and appreciation from a sincere, love-filled heart and do so throughout the year. That gift would be priceless.

Together we thrive,

Jacqueline