Oh, February. The month of love – either highly anticipated or extremely dreaded, depending on what side of the spectrum you are: taken or single.
But let’s face it, there’s more to that than just two boxes. You can be highly involved with your career, just starting to know somebody new, busy rocking with your girl friends, keeping your options open, or simply 50 (or 40, 20, 16, 75 etc.) and fabulous. It’s 2018 and the world is changing. Let’s have some real talk about love and, more importantly, the real kind of love.
Taking the Pressure Off
Valentine’s Day has put a lot of pressure on people in the past and created some unhealthy habits. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a big supporter of this Holiday, but in the same time I strongly believe that affection should be shown every day, through the little things, not only one day through clichéed gestures.
That’s why I wanted to talk about focusing on cultivating not only self love, but also truly supportive relationships every day, with every person around you.
Choose Wisely
In a world constantly distracted and with endless options for everything, it’s important to pull back and evaluate your direction on a constant basis. How do you want to spend the rest of your life, feeling happy or miserable?
If your answer is “happy”, then it’s time to start making better choices, even if it’s just some small tweaks here and there. And since we’re on the topic of relationships, let’s start there.
1. Pick the ones who pick you.
Party friends that will do shots with you at 2am and will go bar/club hopping every Friday are super easy to find. The question is: how many will be there the next day with an aspirin in their hand and a tall glass of water in the other the next morning, while you complain how badly your head hurts and how you hate making your bed in the weekends. It’s time to weed out the rest.
2. Appreciate loyalty
Thank you internet for making it possible to connect with absolutely every corner of the world in about an instant. Also, thank you for blowing up our phones with endless notifications 😆 Especially as entrepreneurs it’s kind of part of our jobs to connect with new people and network efficiently. But that doesn’t mean you have to forget about the people who always have been there for you and focus on only your “shiny” new friends. Make an effort to reach out to an old friend this month and let them know how much you appreciate their loyalty.
3. Life is what happens in between those big things
Buying expensive dinners and ordering flowers is easy (and very nice), however, holding someone’s hand when they’re nervous and anxious before a big event is something that not many would do or even consider.
Remember that if you are that person who’s always there for people, they should be there for you too. So maybe this Valentine’s Day if your Romeo gets stuck in a bush on his way to your castle condo in the suburbs, crack open that bottle of champagne and call your best friend to join you. She’s going to love you forever!
4. Drop the Rules
Just like you shouldn’t feel obligated to wear certain items at certain times of the day or the night, I also think you shouldn’t feel obligated to participate in certain events if you don’t want to.
Feeling like crashing on the couch and watch Netflix + eat Chipotle instead of going out come February 14th? ZERO judgements! Girl, you do you. Have a cute dress that you’re dying to wear but saving it for a “special” occasion? Wear it anyway, wear it every day!
Regardless of the space you’re at in your life, don’t let yourself be swayed into doubt and inadequacy this month. Celebrate love the way you see fit and remember that you’re good enough no matter what!
What are your plans for V Day? Let me know in the comments below.
As always,
Much love
❤
Tou
April 28, 2018I admittedly spent my day like any other week day by going to work then working at the gym and later ate the meal I prepared earlier in the week like I normally do on a typical week. It was and still is difficult to re-define what love really was after the departure of a 15 years marriage. I always had the notions that LOVE will always conquer all of the trials and tribulations that life may throw at a relationship but what I fail to realize is with enough time love can become complacent on a subconscious level. As you mentioned in this particular post, “In a world constantly distracted and with endless options for everything, it’s important to pull back and evaluate your direction on a constant basis.”, as for my particular case I basically set my life trajectory and course of life on cruise control. In doing so I negated what I consider the noises and distractions from my life which were mainly consisted of emotions. Overall, a very well constructed list that anyone can relate. You look absolutely stunning in your red dress with your amazing physique and hair.