I KNOW What You Want
It’s Valentine’s Day and a lot of people are posting sappy-sweet things out there.
I don’t begrudge them their gooey tidings. I’ve been known to get mushy here and there.
Just stay aware of feeling swept away by this day being a holiday of sorts. Like so many of our current celebrations, the origins are centuries old (dating back long before St Valentine became a martyr) and not what you might imagine. I’ll leave you to do your own research on this.
Today, I just want to put your head back in the game.
What game?
This Valentine’s Day – that is TODAY – it’s important to think about yourself. First of all, you can’t give what you don’t have. That means, you have to make sure you’ve got the energy reserves to muster up some kind of positive emotion for the people you see every day. And if you inwardly acknowledge that doing so is hard, you might, maybe, possibly need to give yourself the gift of kindness. Clear your calendar for an hour or two and just sit with yourself.
Why do you suppose lifting others is so important? Can’t they do their own darn lifting?
Welp… the thing is that in lifting others, you create a ripple effect whose end results are positively unknowable.
One of the things that we humans crave is recognition and acknowledgment. One of the kindest things we can do – and I see it as foundational in building a Culture of Caring – is to truly see another human. Take two beats to hold eye-contact. Enough to recognize eye-color, not long enough to be creepy. I see you, dear human. I see you.
We humans also want to feel a little more free.
Isn’t that true for you? If you had just a little more money or a little more time, you’d feel a little more free.
Today, practice something. Just these two things:
- Acknowledge someone around you. Take a moment to really lean into who they are and what they’re saying. Listen just 10% more attentively. Seriously. Make that a conscious act. Then, just see what happens in that relationship. You will have lifted the other person, and they may not know how or why they feel the way they do.
- Take a moment for yourself. How can you honor yourself for all you do and all you’ve done to this point? Is there more? Sure. Is the pressure on? Well, that’s up to you and how you look at things. Can you find 20-minutes to an hour just to be with your own thoughts today?
Live in love, keep making your magic, and be good to yourself.
See you here next week.
= Wayne =
I’d like to invite you to apply to be among the few to join my small group two-day intensive in April to be held in Nashville. If you’re interested in requesting one of the remaining seats, please reach out to me and say “Interested!”.