I've Found True Love

February 14th is a day that I dreaded all throughout middle and high school. For one thing, I did not date in middle school, but even by high school, Valentine's Day became excruciatingly miserable. My sophomore year, I was asked to be someone's valentine, with a red rose and all, and I said no. My junior year, I was left a very creepy serial-killer style note from a secret admirer. By my senior year, I let it publicly be known on Twitter that I wanted nothing to do with Valentine's Day or even gestures of endearment. Here in 2016, things are a bit different. Once and for all, I have found true love, and it is oh so sweet to know I have a valentine.

One of my favorite motivational/leadership speakers of all time is a man named Houston Kraft. When I first heard him speak in 2013, he discussed the topic of love. In particular, the 4 types of Greek love. Typically, Valentine's Day is correlated with eros, or intimate love, however in 2016, I've fallen in love in the other three ways.

Storge: love, affection, especially of parents and children
So, love of family. I've hardly had a perfect family growing up, but hardly anyone does. This year, I'm asking my family to be my valentine. I'm asking them to come together and love each other, because I love them dearly, and family is everything.

Philia: affection regard, friendship, love usually between equals
Friend love. This kind of love is totally my jam. I am all about hopping onto the bandwagon for Galentine's Day and Palentine's Day.  How important is it to have strong friendships? In the past couple of weeks back from winter break, I've made some friends that I am positive are going to last a lifetime. Lauryn, Shelby, Jasmine, will you be my Valentines?

Agape: brotherly love, charity, love of God for man and man for God
My particular favorite, is the only love that is truly a choice. I love my Father in Heaven, and I love Christ (my main man JC). I love charity, and giving. I've fallen so deeply in love with it, that I want to pursue it as a career! And finally, I love those who need it most. To be able to give love to those who are hurt, those who hurt us, and those who we don't know personally, is an incredible blessing.

So, no, I am not in a relationship. Nonetheless, I have fallen in love in 2016. I've found true love in the world and the simple blessings around me. Let's spend this year keeping Valentine's Day about love, and not about relationships. Make the decision to love those around you! So here's to 2016, the year of self love, friend love, family love, and simply choosing love.

Addendum: I'm sending love to those who actually ARE in relationships and doing the traditional cutesy couple stuff. You rock too.

Here is a quality photo of my galentines and I! Happy Valentine's Day to everyone, and I'm wishing everyone a joyful and love filled day. Lauryn and I will be spending the evening babysitting some adorable children, so I guess you could say I am PUMPED! 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

TLTA: Comparison, Plans, Disappointment

Image
Hi friends, today let's talk about three things: comparison, making life plans, and big disappointments. I have a handful of people who are very curious about what on earth is happening in my life, and I'm writing this in part to address that. I have a heavy heart today. For the past 6 months, I've been working to get myself to Provo, UT to get my cosmetology license, and later finish my degree. It has been the most stressful thing applying, getting scholarships, finding housing, and a car. But, I've felt that it is what I need to do and where I need to be, so the stress has been bearable! The biggest challenge I've faced has been with my family. My dear parents have wanted/needed me home. And 5 days before I was supposed to be making my move to Provo on October 16th, my parents took my plan away from me. I don't want to dive into the dirty details, but it has been some of the hardest few days of my life having this taken away from me. Which brings me to o
Read more

We All Peak In High School

Image
Anyone who knows me knows that student council and leadership consume(d) my life (they still kind of consume my life). Being student body president, I attended "required" monthly presidents meetings where all of the student body presidents in Vegas would meet at one of the high schools in town about everything and anything student council. I put the quotes around "required" because I would have gone to those meetings whether we had to or not. I looked forward to them every single month! They were one time I could see some of my closest friends all together at once, and we got to talk about leadership. Does life even get better than that? We all became great friends very quickly. In my group of friends, there was this ongoing joke between the presidents that we all had peaked in high school. "We've already become presidents of our schools! It must all be downhill from here." As lighthearted as this joke was, it quickly became a real fear for many
Read more

TLTA: Technology, Priorities, Helping People

Image
Hi friends! Today let's talk about technology and how to use it more purposefully, shifting priorities, and how we can improve the way we help others. In my last post, I mentioned that I would be "unplugging" for a a time from social media and cut back a bit on technology in general, and it was INCREDIBLE. I recommend everyone doing this at least once every few months. I had no idea how addicted I was to the internet and my online image. It was so wonderful waking up in the morning and reading a book in bed instead of checking Twitter, and not fussing about what pictures to take to post on Instagram. Obviously I'm back on social media, but for a quick minute I considered deleting my accounts completely. I had the realization that the internet and social platforms are incredibly powerful and we have so much potential to do good with it! I believe the internet's sole purpose is to share good messages with the world. Messages of joy, hope, and knowledge! I encourag
Read more