Incase you haven’t noticed the abundance of chocolate, flowers, love quotes, stuffed animals and heart-shaped-everything that has been flooding store windows and convenience stores since the day after New Years, Valentine’s Day is upon us! This is the holiday that celebrates love, which is truly one of the most incredible forces in the universe! Love can just show up out of nowhere and leave you speechless, breathless and powerless. It is that strong!
Valentine’s Day is not only the time to find a way to show your special someone how much you appreciate them, but also a great time to reflect on how much you love and appreciate yourself! Self love, though sometimes a difficult concept to comprehend, is so important and something that many people struggle with every day. Take this time to appreciate all of your best qualities and quirks that make you YOU! We are all completely unique individuals; think about how beautiful that is and celebrate yourself!
I have struggled with the concept of “self love” for most of my life and it had been a struggle for me to believe that I deserved unconditional love because I struggled for quite some time to really love myself. Through my own struggles, I have learned that many people don’t believe that they are pretty enough, smart enough, skinny enough or funny enough for anyone to truly love them, and so they find it difficult to love themselves. I’ve been there, too, and through all of the hardships that I’ve overcome, I can tell you all for certain that everyone is deserving of love!
Five years ago, at the most unexpected time and in the most unexpected location, I met the love of my life. My entire life changed that day and I felt my heart and soul open up in ways that I never dreamed to be possible! It came out of nowhere and hit me with such a bang. You could say that I was struck by Cupid’s Arrow!...and to this day I have yet to recover.
In loving the man who is now my husband and receiving his unconditional love, I have grown to be a new, better version of myself. Seeing how much I am worth to him, regardless of my flaws and quirks, has allowed me to see a side of myself that I had never before recognized! To be able to say that I love myself and truly mean it today is something that I never thought could possibly happen to me. I have learned that love is truly the answer to happiness and that everyone is deserving of pure, true love.
I once had a friend refer to Valentine’s Day as “Singles Awareness Day” which made me laugh because we were both single at the time and it was just so true! If you’re single it does not mean that there is something wrong with you; I think that it shows that you’re not willing to settle for just “anybody.” Even if you’re single, call up a friend and go out! Love is in the air during the Valentine’s Day season; open yourself up to new possibilities and get yourself out there – you never know who you might meet! Cupid’s on the prowl and he just might find you ;)
Even if you do have a Valentine this year or plans with friends, take some time during this Valentine’s Day (and every other day!) to love yourself and appreciate something about yourself. You are deserving of love, but you are especially deserving of your own love!
While it took someone else loving me unconditionally to believe and accept that I was deserving of love, my wish to you is that you can accept this fact now and on your own because it is the truth. You are beautiful in your own way and you deserve to have pure, unconditional love – even if it’s just from yourself for now! So go on and buy yourself some flowers and/or chocolate this Valentine’s Day, regardless of whether or not you have another Valentine. Find a way to show yourself how much you appreciate yourself this Valentine’s Day! XO