Valentine's Day is a day to celebrate LOVE.
I've never been a big fan of the holiday...perhaps that's because I was never really and truly in love before so I didn't 'get it' and so I didn't feel that it really pertained to me. Of course, whenever I was in a relationship I did the customary celebrating with my 'other' and some years when I was single I would gather with my other single friends and have our own 'Un-Valentine's Day' celebrations. I always did my best to enjoy the day...because really...I just wanted a reason to have fun! But I never really embraced the concept of the day. Until now...
This year...I get it...
Life...is about LOVE...all kinds of love. Love for yourself first and foremost! Love for life and the gift of just being alive. Love for everything in your life...the good and the bad. The love for other people...those you know and those you dont...those you like...and yes...even those you don't! The love for successes and failures...the big ones and the small ones. All of it...just a big old LOVEFEST...not just today...but EVERY DAY!
For so long I withheld love in so many ways...I only allowed myself to give love to a few select people who I thought deserved it...only loved the 'good' things in life...and even withheld love for myself more times than I care to count. And all that withholding...at the end of the day...came right back to me...because so much of what I wanted in life ended up being withheld from me. But luckily...I have finally figured it out...with a little help from some LOVE-FILLED people that I'm lucky to have in my life.
All of a sudden the fact that I was overwhelmingly surrounded by LOVE (and have always been) became CRYSTAL CLEAR! I had spent so much time and energy through the years staring at the places where things appeared to be 'lacking' that I couldnt see and definitely could not fully appreciate the overflow of love that I have in my life. And now...that my eyes and my heart...have been opened...its as if I can see nothing but love...in everything and everyone...even in...and sometimes ESPECIALLY in...the not so great stuff.
So...today...on Valentine's Day...I declare a NEW life-long LOVEFEST for my life...and everyone and everything around me...and in the process of this LOVEFEST I am finding that I'm getting to know myself in ways that I never took the time to do before...and because of that am falling in LOVE...with MYSELF...and it feels GREAT!
"To love oneself is the beginning of a life-long romance." Oscar Wilde
So HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY TO ME! And...to you!
BIG HUGS AND MUCH LOVE...
Vanessa...in progress. (VIP)
