Love is all you need – the so famous words once sung by much-loved band The Beatles, a song I can happily keep on repeat. As a matter of fact, as I sit in a cosy North London cafe filled with books and warmth, it’s playing through my headphones. Pure bliss, because all you need is love right? Do we really need anything else in this world if we’re surrounded by true love, it’s definitely a hard one to answer but I can’t seem to think of anything nicer to need or have in life rather than love.
This beautiful thing we call love is so much more than we think, is it not? Like dry soil begging for it to rain, love is the harmless heroin we inject into our lives every day. Without love, life would be boring. Life would be sad, life would be… Meaningless. So as Valentine’s Day is upon us I’d like you to not think about the presents you’re going to buy (if any) or the money you must at least spend but about love, your love, their love and the love which brings you together.
When I say love, I don’t just mean a partner, a husband or wife, I really mean so much more. I mean the hug you give suddenly to somebody you care for, the good morning you say religiously to the neighbour across the road, the smile that appears on your face each time you hear a child’s laughter, the flowers you give at the end of the week to the person you love and not just once a year or on ‘special occasions’ and not the words you say, but the actions which prove them.
Here are 5 ways how I think we can show our love daily:
1. A Hug – one size fits all, it’s free, it’s warm, it’s showing you care and I think one of the best feelings in the world. Hugs are priceless, so why not give them more often?
2. Give a kiss. It’s priceless too, it’s special, it’s more affectionate than a hug, whether it’s on the cheek or on the lips- that depends entirely on whom you’re kissing and what you want it to mean and if you didn’t know it burns calories too, honest!
3. Those three little words…
Say them, say them words like there’s no tomorrow and really mean it! Say it to your friends, to your family, to your children, to your pets, say the three little words which mean so much more often but only if it’s true. Believe it when you’re saying them, you’ll brighten up their day no matter what they’re going through. Go on say it, say it to them now, say “I love you..”
4. Be romantic
And this doesn’t just go for men, because ladies we can be just as romantic if not even better at it. Make dinner to have by candlelight mid-week, surprise them at work with a random gift you know they’d appreciate or pick up the phone and call to wish them a good day. It really isn’t hard and life is too short to not be expressing love as much as we should.
5. Appreciate
That’s right, be grateful for what they do for you or what they don’t do because they love you and remember just how lucky you are. Value their presence in your life and the feelings they have for you, what they bring out in you and what you would do if tomorrow they were gone…
Leo Tolstoy, a famous writer once said: “Love is life. All, everything that I understand, I understand only because I love. Everything is, everything exists, only because I love.”
So remember to think of life without love and how you would be if it wasn’t with us…
Happy Valentine’s Day.
