The One Where Everyday is Valentine's Day.

I have so much love in my heart sometimes that it occasionally scares me and often hurts me. I literally ache with love. When I love, I love so deep. I'm even sometimes embarrassed by it. (I cried about Whitney, folks. For well over an hour and, after that, sporadically throughout the day. Did I know the woman? No. But I certainly loved her... see what I mean?)
I'm 25 years old, and I'm alone... with no romantic prospects in the near future. I wonder a lot why I am alone, and I can't point to the exact reason why. Am I too sassy? Too independent? Too dependent? Too loud, too reserved, too careful, too confident? I have no answers. I wallowed in that for a few moments before I sat down to write this post.

I don't like Valentine's Day. Don't worry, this won't be one of those diatribes from a bitter single female. Truthfully, I am not bitter about being single. While of course I wish I had someone to share Valentine's Day with, I'm certainly not mad or bitter about it.

Even when I had a Valentine, I thought it was silly. It never seemed to measure up to its hype. Sure, I'd gotten flowers and chocolates and love letters... but at the end of the day, I just shrugged my shoulders and realized that aside from a couple of roses, it was no different from February 13th or February 15th.

Which... just as I wrote that, I realized something else: shouldn't everyday be Valentine's Day? Just like everyday should be Thanksgiving or Christmas. Shouldn't we express thanks everyday? Shouldn't we always celebrate the gift of Christ's life every single day? Or Veteran's Day... shouldn't we always show our appreciation to those who fought for our country? Every 14th of February, we are urged to demonstrate our love for those around us in our day-to-day lives. (It isn't just about romance, though that seems to be the more popular expression.) Shouldn't everyday be a day that we express to our loved ones how much we care for them?

It is important to know what love is in order to express it constantly. Love is not an abstract feeling of longing and infatuation that intensifies on certain holidays. Real love should exist everyday. I'm going to do my best not to get too "preachy" here (because, really, I'm the last person who should be "preaching" to anyone), but there is a verse from the Bible that I often think about on Valentine's Day. It's in 1 Corinthians 13:4-7: Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

Always. Always. Always. Everyday.

There are people in my life who literally give me a reason to wake up and roll out of bed in the morning: family, friends, teachers, co-workers, and even complete strangers. With 22 hours left in this day, I want to set a goal: to simply spread good cheer today and forever. Treat everyday like it's Valentine's Day and treat everyone like he or she is a special Valentine, I say.

This goes hand-in-hand with the "kindness" entry a couple of posts back. Call an old acquaintance just to say hello. Send a card out to someone you know to brighten their day. Slip a love note in your spouse's purse or lunch bag. Also, smiling is contagious, they say. So, smile at a complete stranger.

Love is the very essence of life. Happy Valentine's Day, yesterday, today, tomorrow, and always.