Motivation Mondays: Valentine’s Day Tips

“This is love: to fly toward a secret sky, to cause a hundred veils to fall each moment. First, to let go of life. Finally, to take a step without feet.” Rumi

Motivation Mondays: Valentine’s Day Tips – Images & Symbols

Valentine’s Day Collage: Have a Happy Valentine’s Day filled with love, flowers, and chocolates!

The heart has its reasons of which reason knows nothing. Blaise Pascal
Where there is great love, there are always wishes. Willa Cather
If you have only one smile in you give it to the people you love. Maya Angelou
Doubt thou the stars are fire, Doubt that the sun doth move. Doubt truth to be a liar, But never doubt I love. William Shakespeare

What does Happy Valentine’s Day mean to you? Do you remember your first Valentine? Your happiest Valentine? Your saddest one? I know February 14th is around the corner and, like every other major event, Valentine’s Day pulls at our heartstrings and pockets as couples scramble to impress each other with extravagant gifts. Love is a special emotion we share with family, friends, and others we admire, and on this special day, lovers meet bearing gifts and sweet words. While this is a day of joy for many, it is also a day of great pain for some. As much as we love the festivities, Valentine’s Day brings up painful memories of unrequited love, shattered dreams, and long-gone lovers for people with no one to give/receive gifts. No matter what Valentine’s Day narratives we hold close to our chests, all our memories count for something, and we must add them to our treasure box of life stories that we carry with us; some we wear as scars and others we hold as sacred events… they are the outcome of love. Honor them. As this Valentine’s Day approaches, take time to motivate yourself to care for yourself.

How can we learn and grow during this special season? We often forget that the best gifts of love are our presence, our attention, and our shared memories. We can make Valentine’s Day even more special if we stop to consider its deepest value, which far exceeds the trinkets we buy and share. The following Valentine’s Day Tips should help add a spring to your step and warmth to your heart.
1) First and foremost, send yourself a Valentine’s Day card and a bouquet of your favorite flowers.
2) Make a list of all the things you LOVE about YOU. Type it up and frame it on your wall.
3) Invite your closest friends over for some comfort food and gift exchange, and call it a Just Because Of Our Love Party.
4) Treat yourself and your family to a special outing and have each person share at least one thing they love about every one in the family.
5) Have each family member write down all the accolades and positive feedback they shared about each other, and use the information to create individualized cards for each family member.
Our well-being and our hearts are part of our precious treasure box, and we need to refuel it as often as possible. However, some of us forget to take care of ourselves as we run around attending to others. We must STOP and pay attention to our own needs. We cannot be fully present to love/care for others unless we are motivated to be fully present to love/care for our own lives. Below, I will share a few more.

A Story: Come Back For Some Later! <3
Motivation Mondays details are below. Join in! The themes for January 2016 and February 2016 are:

01/04 – ANEW –
01/11 – POSSESSIONS –
01/18 – MLK DAY –
01/25 – Opposite Day, Yin and Yang

02/01 – VALENTINE’S DAY–
02/08 – CHINESE NEW YEAR –
02/15 – PRESIDENTS’ DAY – third Monday of the month –
02/22 – TBD –
02/29 – LEAP YEAR –
Are You Looking for Ways to Stay Creative in 2016?

– Join the Daily Post Post-a-day or Post-a-week Challenge.

— Join the BlogHer Writing Lab

More Below!

“The minute I heard my first love story, I started looking for you, not knowing how blind that was. Lovers don’t finally meet somewhere. They’re in each other all along.” Rumi

Motivation Mondays: Valentine’s Day Tips – Images & Symbols

All you need is love. But a little chocolate now and then doesn’t hurt. Charles M. Schulz
Love is our true destiny. We do not find the meaning of life by ourselves alone – we find it with another. Thomas Merton
A friendship that like love is warm; A love like friendship, steady. Thomas Moore
They invented hugs to let people know you love them without saying anything. Bil Keane

How do we develop self-love? Some time ago, I read an article, “Do You Love Yourself?” by inspirational author Louise Hay. She offered twelve important tools/tips on self-love that can help us push past our old, tired thinking and get back on the path to self-love and growth. The tips are powerful and timely for this season of love, and I encourage you to add them to your daily Motivation/inspiration guide and routine. They are:

Stop All Criticism.                               Support Yourself.
Forgive Yourself.                                 Do Mirror Work
Don’t Scare Yourself.                         Be Loving to Your Negatives.
Be Gentle and Kind and Patient.    Love Yourself
Be Kind to Your Mind.                       Take Care of Your Body.
Praise Yourself.                                    Do It Now.

When we spend so much time trying to get others to love us, we forget to praise, love, or be kind to ourselves. If our tank is empty and we spend time criticizing every fault and terrorizing ourselves with negative thoughts, we can’t fully love others; therefore, self-care is imperative. Regardless of our beliefs or issues about love, it can be both exhilarating and enervating. If we don’t practice the tips above as part of our self-love regimen, if we don’t look in a mirror and applaud our effort or care for our bodies, we leave ourselves open to the whims of life. Instead of vacillating, we should embrace our experiences. In loving ourselves, we can ask for a compassionate lover, a lasting companion, gratitude for loved ones, grace for future loves, and above all, grace for Divine Love.

Source: Zen Antics. All stories via Goodweb.cn

Positive Motivation Tip: Love yourself first, take good care of your heart, and you will be fully able to love others.

Motivation Mondays is open to anyone who wants to share a motivational quote, photo, personal challenge, or post that encourages others to start the week on an upbeat note.
Basic Instructions: Each week, I will have a Motivation word to help us create a response. (See listed words for the months above/below)
Email address: You may email or share your post as a comment, and I will add it to the round-up of related posts. email it to: contact(@)mirthandmotivation(.)com
Category tag: – Share your post using Motivation Mondays
Twitter hashtag: – Use this on Twitter #MotvnM
Dedicated Page: There is a dedicated page for Motivation Mondays. It has the same instructions and will include other helpful tools and a link to the round-up
Facebook Page: MotivationOnMonday.s Join our page and add your post and/or any motivational piece you think will be helpful to others.
Facebook Community: We have a Facebook community forum to complement the page. It’s another way to share uplifting posts and thoughts. Please join in and add your voice.

Badge: – I created a fun badge using PicMonkey’s free photo editing tools. You can create your own, useWordPress’’ integrated tool on your blog, or you are welcome to use mine. (see dedicated page)
Tag: – Motivation Mondays
Hashtag: – #MotvnM

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PHOTO CREDITS/ATTRIBUTIONS: Stories via Zen Stories on Goodweb.cn   Quotes via  All Photos: From my Personal Collection,  © Pev99 | Stock Free Images & Dreamstime Stock Photos, and/or Antique Valentine’s card, Columpio_Veracruz, Archetypal lovers Romeo and Juliet, BigPinkHeart, VValentine’s Dayflowers, Valentine’s Day tree, Ohatu and Tokubeii, Gothaer Liebespaar, via Wikipedia

Until Next Time…
Ask. Believe. Receive. ©
Elizabeth Obih-Frank
Mirth and Motivation
Positive Kismet