Spread The Love

by Clinicians at Ganey Counseling on 02/13/15

Valentine’s Day Continued…

           

When I was in Elementary School, Valentine’s Day was always something to look forward to. The classrooms would be decorated with pink and red hearts and each desk was adorned with brown paper bags that had been creatively turned into Valentine’s “mailboxes.” The week or two leading up to Valentine’s Day everyone went to the store to pick out cards for their classmates. As was the rule, everyone received a Valentine – no one was to be left out.

 

As you get older, Valentine’s Day tends to lose some of its magic. Some still get excited about little gifts, notes, and surprises that might come up throughout the day but others tend to find it to be a disappointing or lonely day. Still others may just see it as a “Hallmark” Holiday and begrudgingly buy the card or gift just because someone might be expecting it.

When it comes down to it, Valentine’s Day is a day to share and show love. It is a day to take our attention away from ourselves and focus on ways to show love to others. Valentine’s Day doesn’t need to be a day to focus on only one person, however. While it is good to take a day to remember the significant other that may be in your life it is also important to take time to consider how to show love to your friends, acquaintances, or perhaps even strangers that you meet. Obviously some chocolates and a kiss would be a bad idea for the guy standing in the Starbucks line behind you but why not offer to pay for their coffee?   

There are many things you can do to show love to those around you:

·       write a note

·       make a call

·       offer assistance

·       give up your chair

·       say a kind word

 

Valentine’s Day doesn’t need to be tied to romantic love and it also doesn’t need to be bound to just one day. Of course we should show love every day but perhaps we can start with trying to show one act of love every day for the rest of the month.  That is my challenge to you (and to myself). There may not be brown paper bag mailboxes and rules that everyone gets something special, but it certainly wouldn’t hurt to spread some love.

 

Submitted by Sarah E. Loew, MS