For today’s blog, I fully intended to tell you about this amazing test that I came across that helps you better understand yourself, narrow down your career options and have a better chance of living a happy life while fulfilling your own unique purpose.  Oh, how I wish I’d found this years ago.  And I definitely will tell you about it – but not today.  Today I feel inspired to talk about love.  Not just because it’s Valentine’s Day here in the U.S. but simply because I feel the world needs to place more importance on love.

In our busy world it seems like we’ve shrunk love down to simply the romantic kind of love felt between couples.  But love is so much bigger than that.  Love is that spark of recognition that makes us feel drawn to other people.  It’s the unexplainable appreciation of someone else’s wonderful qualities.  In fact, love doesn’t even have to be geared towards another person.  We can be swept away by an overwhelming feeling of “love” while taking in the amazing beauty of a sunset, or witnessing the joyous giggle of child.

With New Year’s over and our resolutions well under way, it seems that experiencing and expressing more love in our lives may actually be the most important improvement we could make. If the details of our lives are a painting – then love is the thing that brings it to life with vibrant color. It makes what we do matter. 

My son is doing something that really impresses me today.  For the second Valentine’s Day in a row, he’s bought a heap full of cards, written uplifting statements on them, and will be handing them out at school to girls who haven’t received anything – because he says that “everyone deserves to feel special.”  I love that! And we do, don’t we? Valentine’s Day brings that message to the forefront of our minds, but really, we deserve to feel special every day.  Kudos to my 16-year-old son for seeing a need and stepping up!

As a funny aside, while that may seem very enlightened for a teenaged boy, when buying the cards he impatiently grabbed handfuls of them without taking time to read the messages – so some of them say “to my husband”  or are a tad suggestive in nature.  Ha!  That should liven up the conversation at school!  (I’m expecting a concerned call from the Principal at any moment.)  But it’s the intention that counts – and making someone smile and feel appreciated is an awesome thing.  I’d love to see the face of the girl who gets the card where he’s written “You’re strong, intelligent and beautiful – are you a Beaver, ‘cause ‘dam!’”

So this blog is a call to action.  When you see something wonderful in someone, tell them!  We all desire to be seen.  It’s a shame when we live in a world where we have to feel guarded against saying something nice to someone else.  I say we challenge that, step outside of our pre-programmed way of living, and reach out to others with an uplifting word and a kind acknowledgement.  Who knows, someone else may do the same for you – and it could just make your day!

Copyright © 2013 marciwise.com. Material is copyrighted but free to repost as long as proper credit is listed, including our website address. Marci Wise is the author of Pain, Passion & Purpose. “Like” us on Facebook.