Happy Heart Day!

Happy Valentine’s Day!!
Hi Everyone! I hope you all had a great Valentine’s Day! Whether you are married, separated, single, divorced or ‘other’! I remember how excited I used to be for Valentine’s Day in elementary school. I would go to the store with my mom, pick out an adorable pack of Valentine’s Day cards, and if I was really lucky, they had lollipops attached! Then we would head home and I would write out every classmates name on a card of some sort or other. Looking for the BEST card out of the pack for that ‘special’ someone! Everyone got a card and everyone felt special.

Then fast forward to adulthood….now it is not as much FUN! We have placed so much importance on getting a gift from that special someone. And if we don’t get something as fantastic as one of our co-workers, we are disappointed in our person! Why are we disappointed that they didn’t show their heroic display of love on this specific day? What about January 26th, May 17th, August 4th or October 13th? Are those days not as important?

How about showing ourselves some love? (No not in THAT way!) Loving ourselves means taking care of the most important person in our lives…Us! We get wrapped up in everyday living, housework, work deadlines, husbands/wives needs and demands, children to be made happy, and other distractions. I ask people daily about what they do for stress relief. ‘What do you do for fun?” ‘What kind of physical activity do you do that doesn’t include work?’ Many times the blank stare that is returned is answer enough. I often tell people if it takes them longer than 10 seconds to think about it, that is entirely too long!

We need to go back to that feeling in elementary school where we enjoyed doing things for others because it made us feel good! No other reason, but that we wanted to make out friends smile! Taking care of ourselves is important in accomplishing this. If we take time out to relieve stress by walking, taking a swim, riding a bike, reading just one chapter in that book we bought 6 months ago, then we can be better prepared to make others smile.

It’s true that misery loves company, don’t invite yourself to that party! Have some fun and do something for someone in your life, just to make them smile! I guarantee that you will be smiling as well!

Tracy