Love Is Like Fairy Dust

 

You can sprinkle love anywhere! Anytime. Just like fairy dust. It’s not love as in “hugs and kisses,” as nice as those are, it’s love by a different description. Namely, “to delight in the presence of.” Nice, huh? You won’t find that definition in any dictionary. I heard it many years ago in a seminar and it hit home with me. I never forgot it.

In this month of love, with Valentine’s Day as its pinnacle, what if you chose to sprinkle love (aka fairy dust) in the form of “delighting in the presence of”? It doesn’t cost a dime, although it does take a bit of effort. Not much, really, and gets easier as you do it more often.

How do you do it?

It’s easy. Notice that when you appreciate someone or something, the appreciation makes you smile, even if only inwardly? I brought a rose in from my garden yesterday, and I can’t help but delight in its presence. It’s beautiful, and as the petals unfurl, it gets even more beautiful. Such delight is a little thing. It takes but seconds, and yet . . . a little more love just got sprinkled into the Universe.

It's really a question of focus. You can focus on your partner’s or your children’s flaws, or you can focus on how much fun it is to do things together that you all enjoy. Every time you focus on something about your partner/child that delights you, you’ve sprinkled more fairy dust.

Don’t have a partner or children? Not a problem. You can delight in literally anything, including yourself in the mirror. Really? Of course! Focusing on your crow’s feet, that new pimple or your receding hairline just makes you unhappy. Instead, sprinkle some fairy dust your way. Delight in how smooth your skin is, how pretty the color of your nut-brown/blue/green/hazel eyes is and how your smile lights up your whole face.

Try it. Sprinkle fairy dust wherever and however you can as you go through your day. The results may surprise you, and you don’t even need a wand.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Putting Love Into Action on Valentine’s Day

 

Picture Credit: Kentucky Department of Education

In this time of a seemingly-never-ending pandemic, Valentine’s Day is bound to be different for many of us. Those who are couples may miss the traditional dinners-out, romantic get-aways, and other such expressions of their undying affection.

But what if there was an easy, heartfelt way for all of us – singles as well as couples – to honor Valentine’s Day. A way to express love in a safe, non-COVID threatening way, not just to our sweetheart, but to the many others in our world that we hold dear. It’s putting love into action by simply saying, “Thank you.”

Take Ana Reyes, for example, who some 40 years later (!), tracked down her first grade teacher, Mrs. Harkleroad (with the help of the Kentucky Department of Education), to thank Mrs. Harkleroad for giving her the skills that led to Ana’s professional success as a lawyer. Ana immigrated to Kentucky from Spain and Uruguay as a toddler, and struggled to learn the language of her new country. Upon noticing this, Mrs. Harkleroad came to school an hour early every day to tutor Ana in English. Ana was an avid learner, and learned fast. From those early school days, Ana went on to achieve her law degree from Harvard, as well as a Master’s in international public policy from Johns Hopkins University. Mrs. Harkleroad, now 77, was moved to tears by the letter of thanks Ana read to her – truly love in action.

Saying “thank you,” may seem simplistic, even meaningless. Just a phrase you whip off out of politeness. But “thank you,” when truly felt and expressed genuinely, is far more than that. It’s letting someone know that you recognize what they did for you as being meaningful, as impacting your life in a positive way, however large or small that may have been. Acknowledging that in some way, they loved you. They respected and honored you as a worthwhile human being, even if it was just in serving you a latte. Saying “thank you” loves them back.

So this Valentine’s Day, let “thank you” be how you express your love and appreciation to as many people as you can in your world. It doesn’t matter whether you thank someone verbally, or in a text, email, letter or Voicemail. Whether it’s just two words, or a passionate pages-long outpouring of gratitude, “thank you” is always valuable. Perhaps even more so in these pandemic days, when we all could do with a little more love.

Up Your Game This Valentine’s Day

How about if this Valentine’s Day you upped your game? What if, instead of--or in addition to-- focusing the intensity of your love on that one special person in your life, you turned the spotlight of your love onto your life! Your whole life, all of it, every aspect of it. If rather than complaining, dissing, blaming or criticizing your life, you embraced it wholeheartedly with all the love, hugs and kisses you lavish on that special someone?

So granted, your work life isn’t perfect (whose is?!), but if you look at your job, your career, through the eyes of love, you’ll find all manner of things to appreciate about it. Not the least of which is the paycheck it affords you. There are co-workers you do like or who support your efforts in some way. There is a place to go, tasks to achieve, which allow you to use at least some portion of your intellect and creativity.

Your family and/or friends drive you batty at times, but somewhere in the mix there are good times, fun adventures, tender moments. What if you focused on those, letting the memory of them bring a smile to your face, and let friends and family members know how dear they are to you, with words as well as hugs.

Then there’s you. Ah, yes, the tough nut to crack. How about loving yourself? You see, as wonderful a gift as social media is to us in allowing us to more rapidly and freely connect, it also brings up an awful lot of the devil known as “comparison.” Everyone else seems to be happier, thinner/fatter, taller/shorter, prettier/more handsome, more successful, than you. Everyone else seems to be trending with what’s trendable, in the know on all the scoops, and launching into ever more exciting jobs, travel, cars, clothes, mates!

Aargh! You can’t possibly love yourself and compare yourself to others at the same time. Other people will always, being the different sorts that they are, in one way or another be more of what you aspire to, or less of what you dislike. So what? You are YOU, marvelously uniquely YOU! And that--along with your marvelous and unique life--is worthy of love.

Love. As in caring about and caring for, yourself and your life. Love. As in being grateful for and appreciative of, yourself and your life. Love. As in being tender towards and taking pleasure in, yourself and your life.

Love really is all there is.

Happy Valentine’s Day!