People often connect February with ‘Valentines Day’, and all the associations that come along with that.
As children, we would enjoy our birthdays and special occasions because we had no expectations around it. We would be present in the moment and bask in the glory of whatever showed up. As we got older, we began to judge and create conditions such as “only if I received flowers, that means he loves me”, or “only if I am wished at midnight, then I am special”, or even better “the price of the gift shows how much I am loved”. All of these lead to expectations that cannot be met all the time, and instead, these special occasions end up reminding us that we don’t have what we want.
The underlying issue (as always) is our interpretations and expectations. What if this Valentines Day we give up wanting to be in a certain type of relationship with a partner, and focus on being in a loving relationship with ourselves?
Over the next two weeks, I invite you to drop your “should’s”. If you are single, drop any notions of “I should be in a relationship”. If you are in a relationship, drop any notions of “s/he should behave like this”. Set some time to do one loving act for yourself, and be present for whatever else shows up in the day!
I look forward to hearing some of your stories!