For those of you who may have forgotten, Valentine’s Day is this upcoming Sunday. As this day quickly approaches, many love birds become overly excited to go out on a nice date filled with delicious food, flowers, and of course, dessert.
Meanwhile, love may not be in the air for some people this week. While Valentine’s Day can be a thrilling weekend for some, it can also be a dreaded weekend by others. Nevertheless, these are all things we already know, right?
What we may not know or often forget about is the fact that Valentine’s Day is not just a day of receiving love, but also expressing love. Too often we fall into the norms of this American society and solely become takers instead of givers. Whether we are in a relationship or not, we should use our gifts and talents to bless others and show them what true love really is. What better day to do just that than on Valentine’s Day, the day of love?
Photo by Amy Nelson ’20
My proposition for this year’s Valentine’s Day is as follows: Instead of focusing on our current relationship status, or lack of, let’s use February 14 as a day to pursue our passions and use them to show love to those in need.
Too often we are sucked into our everyday lives and forget to set aside time to pursue the things we love. This is a trap we have to constantly remind ourselves not to fall into, because at the end of the day the things that we will look back on and smile at are the hours we spent doing the things we enjoy most.
Although pursuing your own interests may sound like a selfish act, it is not. Each and every person on this earth has been blessed with a unique gift or talent and has been called to not only pursue that talent, but also use it to bless others. Referring back to earlier, Valentine’s Day is the perfect day to start exercising this habit because you can shape your entire day around spreading love and hope to those around you using your own gifts and talents.
Instead of limiting Valentine’s Day to one significant other, why not spend it reaching out to other people? I am guilty of pouring so much into one particular person at times that I forget to open my eyes to the world around me filled with so many beautiful people. When we turn a blind eye to those around us, we are ignoring the hurt resonating within them.
being said, Valentine’s Day can cast a shadow of darkness over many people. Because each and every one of us has been called to love others, we should not be turning away from others on this upcoming day just to focus on ourselves. Instead, we should be uniting with those that who hurting. Doing so will release a glimmer of light in these hearts as they catch a glimpse of what true love really is.
Therefore, as this day of love is quickly approaching, I encourage you to be thinking about how you are going to spend this day.
Are you expecting to solely receive love and affection from others? Or are you going to take it upon yourself to reach out to someone else and express genuine, real love?
After all, love and fulfillment are not just found within a relationship, but more so from within oneself. Take some time this weekend to pursue your passions so that you may use your gifts and talents to bless someone else.