February and Valentine’s Day can be a sore spot for many, but thankfully this post has nothing to do with that type of lovey fake fluff. My focus for this day has always been on what it can represent…reminding us all to love and be kind. Do you really want to know how to make your life feel fulfilled and happy, be kind and bring happiness to others. It will make you feel like you have never before. By this I don’t mean you need to go out and join a charity or volunteer (which of course are amazing if you do!!), I mean show everyone you meet kindness and love…the ones that don’t act that way toward others, are often the ones that need it the most.
Working in a hospital, I got a view into people’s lives in the most personal and emotional manner. These patients and families were faced with stress none of us can prepare for, and life decisions no one is ready to face. In fact, I saw family dynamics and personal struggles surface that no one knew were even there prior to these situations. One thing I learned and would take away is…no one knows anyone’s life or personal struggles. One family would be saying goodbye to a family member with so many prayers and love, and another could not cope with a life without them. Life is stressful. Life is so hard. And none of us know what we are doing. My theory is, show kindness to everyone and hope they spread the same to others. With that, don’t be a pushover! Still be the strong mind, heart, and body I preach. But take the strength you are gaining every day, and spread it to others by words and actions that are positive and hopeful. We all need it.
But with that, how can we take all the corniness I described above and make this month of love truly meaningful. I have a few insights…
- Love yourself and be confident. You may feel like with the hustle and bustle of life around you, there are times you feel so small and insignificant. But guess what, you are supposed to be here. No matter what level of impact you make, the world would not be the same without you. We are all different for a special reason, and life would not be the same without you. I am saying this because you have to know that when you go through your day, in one way or another you have impacted others, and can positively affect people around you if you choose to! So are you going to drift into the shadows, or are you going to be the surprising light on someone’s day. But make sure to save some of the light for you. If you are not kind and show love to yourself, it makes it really difficult to spread it to others.
- Be the smile that catches someone’s eye. Have you ever made eye contact with someone, and they gave you a smile that caught you off guard. Where your first thought is…why are they smiling at me? Then you realize, oh they are just one of those special people that actually smile at others for no reason?!? Just because they are nice?!? That smile may have made you make a misstep on to the curb, but the following steps you took that day were probably were a little lighter. Remember that. Small things make a big difference to others.
- Pay a compliment to as many people as possible. After the age of 18, I feel like I graduated into a time where compliments vanished. There was so much build up where people wanted you to succeed and flourish, and then one enters adulthood where this big shadow of insecurities, judgment, and competition lie. When someone would say something nice, my response would be fragmented and forced, you would think I had never heard something nice in my life. That is when I decided I was going to compliment people as often as possible…good friends, complete strangers…any time a nice thought came into my head, I did something crazy…I said it out loud…to them. Some examples are, “I love your hair.” “I like your shirt.” “You look really nice today.” Nothing groundbreaking. Things you may have noticed and probably were in your thoughts, but hey, why don’t we start saying these things out loud. Make others feel good. That simple.
- Keep your circle small, and love hard. When I was in my geriatric nursing class (aka old people), there was one thing that really stuck with me. As people age, their “circles” get smaller because they know their time on their Earth is getting shorter, and they want to spend it with people they really care about. To me this theory was so profound. Find the ones you love, and give them your time, your thoughts, and your energy. We only have so much life left to live, so give yourself fully to people you really love. You never know how many memories you have left to make, so you better start now.
As you make changes in your health, there is no bigger change you could make then in your heart. Impacting others in a positive light will make you grow as a person more than you could ever imagine. My blog is all about keeping things simple and realistic. Spreading kindness in small ways every day, will make a huge impact on who you are the rest of your life. Grow in your heart, and the world around you may follow.
Strong mind. Strong heart. Strong body.
Val