It’s not about romance as much as it is about love. Love for yourself and love for the world around you. It’s my favorite day of the year, probably because it is a reminder for me to get reconnected if I’ve drifted off, away from being heart-centered. It’s easy to do in this busy, busy world we live in.
According to Sheva Carr, “The heart is like the conductor of your orchestra. Things like gratitude, appreciation, contentment, love, passion, purpose, full engagement, compassion and care, actually produce an ordered coherent pattern in the heart’s rhythm.”
Taking time to express gratitude and appreciation, and focus, towards all the people in your life, whether that is a family member, friend, business associate…or your soulmate, will provide for those same rich thoughts and feelings to resonate back to your own heart.
Arielle Ford talks about, “What you put your attention on grows. When you make those around you aware of all the love you have for them, you will become a magnet for more love.” And really, we want to start there. We want – each day – to start with this platform of the abundance of love we already have. Love for everything, for our family, our pets, our garden…our job. Focusing on the abundance of what we have versus the yearning of what we still want.
The ability to live each day with such grace; the ability to be present and content, is a learned practice. Women in particular find it hard to acknowledge the successes they’ve had – and often find it difficult to focus on – or even acknowledge – the positives in their lives.
Living with questioning or negative thoughts can take over one’s attention. Not allowing connections, or taking the time to connect with one’s self, can lead to isolation and stress.
Dr. Srini Pillay has a wonderful visualization for how to live your life focused on the positives in your life. He uses a flashlight, and says, “Think of attention as a flashlight. If you start to feel increasingly negative, say to yourself, ‘I think it’s time for me to take the flashlight and direct it somewhere else.’ I encourage you to ask yourself, every day, ‘How much of my day was spent with my flashlight on negative things? How much of my day was spent on positive things?’” He realizes life can hit people with all kinds of challenges and disappointments, but encourages people to take control of their flashlight, to redirect it to live a life of abundance.
An abundance of appreciation and care for the world and those around you. An abundance of connections and love.
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