I choose happy and love and you--- everyday.

I've never been overly attached to valentines day. Perhaps, because its origination started in the catholic church and tells stories of older times when the catholic church forbid young lovers to marry.  How can you forbid such a love? Who gives you the right to keep people unhappy?

We all have the right to be happy. But what does it mean to be happy. That is a large word. There is a wikihow......that gives you some simple ways to be happy. It's no surprise that they all deal with having positivism as a center of your life. Research in the diswiki says that we tend to remember negative experiences but forget positive ones. It's a natural tendency. But due to neuroplasticity we have the ability to change our thoughts. So that is what I do. I remember the good, more then those small bad. I smile. I accept the negative experiences as opportunities to grow. They also suggest to cultivate optimism. I do this a lot. I speak to a future in a positive way. How our life ends up is largely in part to how we think. And so I choose to think in a positive framework within realistic goals.  This isn't always easy for others around me. I speak to a goal before I get there. I speak of where I want to be in ten years. How I want to retire. Where I want to live. The books I want to write. But I have to put it out there to cultivate optimism around me. I can't let my doubts waiver back and forth. I must trust, that whatever I want to be happy....I can get to it. 

Anyways, if you asked me if I was happy this valentines day...I would say yes. I am happy with what I have experienced, how I have grown through those experiences, what I am growing into, and the environment and people I surround myself with to help me bloom in that process. So maybe I'd like to look at valentines day a different way....and say its not about making each other happy on this one day. It's about making each other happy all of the days. We all deserve to be happy. To know a love so warm that it shows up on a Monday. To know a love that sneaks a card in your bag. Sends you a letter in the mail. Leaves your favorite things in your car. Packs your lunch. Surprises you for dinner. A love that knows those bad times should not be carried with us so frequently, but instead we should let the good outshine them. A love that grows even in the cold months of winter. Everyone deserves that...and it does not always come so easy (much like the history of vday) but boy when it comes....is it beautiful. 

Love people today like you want to be loved. That is the greatest gift you could get anyone today.  I will remind myself of that in the silence.