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365 MILLION CARDS FILLED WITH LOVE WILL REACH THAT SPECAIL PERSON THE 14 OF FEBRUARY.IS THAT THE ONLY DAY WE SHOULD SEND OUR LOVE?
Bill Benson LMFT, LPCC has a suggestion to keep your Valentine happy…(all year around)
When I visited the supermarket two weeks ago - the aisles were already adorned with pink-frosted cupcakes and floating heart-shaped balloons. I thought to myself: Don't they know these displays will be spoiled and deflated by the 14th?
Clearly, this pre-holiday product-placement was a teaser designed to get us in the mood, so by Valentine's Day we are whipped into a candy and card shopping frenzy.
Although the Groundhog had yet to see his shadow, our most infamous Hallmark holiday was already popping-up and peeking at us with dollar signs in its eyes.
I imagined Marketing Department heads huddled together last autumn - scanning projections: "Why wait?" they plotted, "we can afford a little product-loss on February's front-end to promote a sure-thing come Valentine's Day."
Perhaps I am needlessly painting villainous mustaches on Marketers: By-and-large I'm sure they're lovely people just doing their part to keep Consumerism pumping through America's veins. To their credit, their campaigns' long rollouts have unintentionally created a concept that is deliciously healthy:
Why not Extend the Holiday?
So, what about all-year-round love exposure? I'm not proposing a sizzling kind of passion, but rather, an unconditional, expectation-less, no-need-to-reciprocate positivity that exists in you (and in me, and in all of us)....
Take a moment and ask yourself: What is my cost/benefit analysis for kindness? Does honorable behavior diminish my returns? In doing something nice, do I feel Super-sized?
So, I would like to beat every advertiser to-the-punch in wishing you: "Happy Valentine's Year."
Because, whatever form love takes, it feels good - and is good for you (No purchase necessary).
*Join Love's campaign - Pass along this article to those you know:
Kindness deserves to go "viral."
Author Bill Benson, LMFT, LPCC is a Board Certified, Licensed Psychotherapist and Clinical Counselor. His company The Mental Gym has trained thousands to build, and then maintain emotional muscle and healthier perspectives.