Let me say that again, “Can I be your Valentine?” That’s a little upside down from the normal “Will you be my Valentine?” The commercial Valentine’s Day is upon us and I’ve noticed how it all seems to be geared toward someone asking me to be their Valentine. What if we flipped it upside down and instead of asking someone else to be your special person, we offered to be someone’s person?

This holiday we have historically celebrated as romantic expressions between two people. Romantic love is certainly worth celebrating, and I’m all for doing that. But on this day of ‘love’ sharing, it occurs to me that love is love and is shareable regardless of its nature (romantic, playful, giving, helping, and so on). Rather than expecting someone to share their love with me, it seems equally rewarding to offer my love to others. The more love you give, the more you get (so ‘they’ say). Loving is the point, right?

Have you ever noticed how loving something or someone softens what is hard inside? When I share love, my worries fade into the background, my frustrations wither, my anger seems less important, and my critical self-talk turns to acceptance and encouragement. Seems to me we could do this love-sharing any day without a holiday requirement. But hey, if we want to call out a specific day in the year to be aware of it, why not? I’ll play!

Wherever you are in your life, whatever you’re doing, however you feel right this moment, take a moment and send loving thoughts to someone unsuspecting. That might be a road worker, that person getting on your nerves, the plumber who isn’t afraid of a nasty job, or the tried-and-true person who delivers your mail each day. In the meantime, I’ll ask again, can I be your Valentine? In the spirit of this holiday, I’m sending love your way and I’m feeling grateful for the gifts you bring to this world by being who you are.

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