With Valentine’s Day approaching, what are you planning on giving? Flowers? Chocolates? A schmaltzy card? A romantic dinner out? Fine – go for it. But you know what really matters, don’t you?! A full-on, no-holds barred, genuine expression of your love and appreciation. When was the last time you gave that!?
No, I don’t mean the “love ya!” that you chirp as you hang up the phone with your spouse, child, parent, or friend. I mean, when was the last time you really showed what that person means to you? When was the last time you looked someone in the eye or gave a huge bear hug and told them exactly how much and why you love and appreciate them?
I know you’re probably thinking “oh, they know I love them.” No, they don’t know! Probably not in the way you really feel it, anyway. Sure, they might assume, but what have you done recently to show your true feelings?
If one of your parents or one of your children were to die today, what would you wish you had said to them? What have they added to your life? What do you most appreciate and admire about them? What have they taught you about yourself and life itself?
Here’s my challenge to you: write a hand-written letter to at least three people who are very important to you and tell them how much you love them and what they mean to you and why. Thank them for the ways in which they have brightened your days or stood by you or believed in you. Give them specific details and just let it all hang out! My father writes me such a letter every year on my birthday, and let me tell you that is the greatest gift in the world. I keep those letters in a box and read them again and again throughout the year.
Too often we hang back in our expressions of love and gratitude because we feel vulnerable in putting ourselves out there – worried, perhaps, that those feelings won’t be expressed back to us. Well, get over it! Be the first to reach out! Tell each of those important people in your life exactly how you feel about them – your parents, your kids, your siblings, your best friends, even perhaps your neighbor, your boss, someone who stood by you or helped you in some way. Thank them for the big things and the little ones.
It’s Valentine’s Day – give more than flowers and chocolate. Write a love letter or a thank you letter or say it out loud in person. And not just in February, but all year ‘round. You won’t just touch their lives, you’ll transform your own as well.
