Shining a New Light on Valentine's Day

     Sometimes I find myself becoming a bit cynical about things...then something happens that makes me stop and rethink my cynicism.

     Valentines Day is one of those things that I have been extremely cynical about for many years.  i have thought of it as a time for people to express love and caring on this one day when they don't care the rest of the year. I have thought of it as day for the guilty to appease his or her guilt ridden conscience by showering the victim of the guilt with lavish gifts. I have thought of it as the day for huge companies to make loads of money on things people really do not need. (Similar to Christmas). I have thought of it as a time for a person to look good and loving to others when really they don't care a bit about them.

     While for some these things may hold true, thoughts entered my mind today and brought a new light to Valentines Day for me.

     First of all I received some extremely sweet and thoughtful gifts from my students. These darling children. It is not always easy to express how you feel so it is nice having a day dedicated to spreading love and kindness. Granted we should do this every day but who can afford gifts on a daily basis and honestly we don't have time to give every day, nor the money. So for these kids it is a time when they can show how much they appreciate their teachers and each other. I think the most special gift for me was the note written on a piece of paper from one of my students telling me how much she appreciates me. It was nothing fancy but from her heart making it priceless.

     I think the biggest revelation for me though was watching my decorate a booth for a couple at the restaurant where he works. The man wanted to take his girlfriend to a nice dinner so my son decorated it for him. This made me remember how thoughtful my son was of his girlfriend. He did not simply buy her flowers on Valentine's Day. He showed her love every day of the week and he bought her flowers on a regular basis. Not so appease for a fight or relive his guilty mind but simply because he loved her.  Her flower vase was never void of live flowers. What a wonderful testament of love. He did not hawe to do it, he did it out of love. I could see him being the one to decorate a restaurant for his girlfriend.

     So with these thoughts in mind I decided that while it might be superficial and many people do only buy things to ease their troubled consciences...there are just a many or more people out there who simply use the day to express their love and go above and beyond because it is in their heart to do so.

+Valentines Day