Alright you guys, I’m just warning you now, this is a semi-deep post. About Valentine’s Day. Which I admit sounds SO weird considering how cliche and commercialized of a holiday it is. Regardless, it’s sparked some major thought around the sentiment of love and I wanted to share! So whether you’re celebrating Valentine’s day solo, with your S.O. or with your friends, let’s take a moment to reflect on the importance of opening your heart and loving fiercely.
Okay, okay. I may have elicited an eye-roll from all of that but hear me out.
We’re all well aware of the power of love. After all, it’s the subject of most films, shows, plays, books and songs, and we’ve been talking about love since we were old enough to comprehend the topic.
How often though do we abuse the word, love?
Don’t you find it interesting how we can easily exclaim how we “love” chocolate in the same sentence that we say we “love” our significant other? Or how we so easily say how much we “loved” a book, “love” that girl’s outfit, or how we “used to love” coffee but now “love” matcha lattes.
When we apply the word love so liberally to absolutely everything in our lives it starts to lose it’s value. And what a shame that is considering love is without a doubt the most powerful force living beings possess. So this Valentine’s Day I’m challenging myself and you to re-think what love really means.
And because I’m a huge quote hoarder, I’m going to refer to 10 of my favorite quotes, sayings and verses that help contextualize three areas of our lives which we should love fiercely.
LOVE OTHERS
It’s funny to me that in the world of Wellness, self love is such a HUGE topic (And trust me, it’s really important — hence why I included it below) and yet the topic of loving others never seems to be as popular. Sometimes it’s nice to have a reminder that both loving yourself and loving others are equally as important.
Love is treating others with patience, understanding and compassion… and it manifests in so many ways. Whether it’s putting the needs of your significant other on the same level as your own, respecting your parents, being kind to a stranger, or forgiving someone who deeply wronged you.
Ultimately, Love is seeing the light in people when everyone else sees the darkness.
LOVE LIFE
The idea of loving life may seem so cliche and at certain times, impossible, however if you can find a way to greet each day with a grateful heart it’ll yield so much joy. Do your best to refrain from getting caught up in the rat race or the desire to compare your life with someone else’s highlight reel.
Loving life doesn’t mean that you won’t feel pain, sorrow, guilt, or any other negative emotion. Rather, it’s about learning from our mistakes, celebrating our triumphs, finding joy in the little things that we typically overlook and doing more of what makes us incandescently happy.
We only get one life to live, so let’s set our intention to love the present moment.
LOVE YOURSELF
Self-love is SO important to our well being. It’s not to be confused with arrogance and narcissism — instead it’s a deep level of awareness and acceptance of who you are. As one of my favorite Bible verses states below, we are all wonderfully and fearfully made. So every time we criticize ourselves, pick apart our looks, sabotage our physical and mental health, or wish we were different, we are not loving fiercely.
We must acknowledge and be grateful for our individual strengths, the beautiful oddities that differentiate us from others and the qualities of our personality that make us completely unique and special.
To love yourself is to acknowledge the amazing work your Creator did when He made you.
Feel free to pin, share, post, or save any of the above so you can easily refer to it! I know it helps me sometimes when I need a little spark of inspiration or a reminder to be kinder, gentler and love more fiercely every day.
Happy Valentine’s Day!
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