Happy Valentine’s Day! Last year, I blogged theSpinster’s Guide to Valentine’s Day Survival. Although it still makes me chuckle, I can’t help but describe myself as bitter. I really sound uncharacteristically afraid… afraid of a day dedicated to love.
What a difference a year makes?! Valentine’s Day creeped up on me. Unlike last year, I wasn’t dreading it a week out and contemplating my avoidance scheme. Actually, I haven’t given it much thought. My simple plan is to have lunch with someone I love. This evening I will take someones I love to the airport. Other than that, I’m hoping for a heart-shaped cookie and a lavender scented bath.
I had my six month review this week. In my own self assessment, I wrote that between a personal tragedy and my team’s complete changeover that it had been the worst six months of my career. Ironically, my goals were primarily on target. It is surprising to me what the human spirit is capable of despite dire circumstances.
I pondered it.
Last year, I was so focused on myself and not having a man that I hated on Valentine’s Day. I didn’t have anything else going on in my life so I conjured up a VD drama. I let the mob mentality of the holiday make me feel inadequate. I cowered in the proverbial corner of life’s dance floor and tried to make myself invisible. I was a bitter wallflower.
This Valentine’s Day, I feel good. I feel loved. I feel real! I actually had a true life drama in the last six months. It wasn’t the make believe, Hallmark-induced one I created last VD. It was the kind where your heart breaks because you love people. And as I walked through that hellish drama, I felt the love and support of people lining my journey’s path. I felt my pain but I felt their love too. Love eventually overcame pain. And love continues to overcome pain.
I adopted a writer’s quote about love a long time ago. As the years pass, I forget who said it or the specific wording. The sentiment is…
We can’t feel the ecstasy of love without feeling the depths of despair.
Share the love today! That’s what it’s all about. Happy Valentine’s Day!