With Valentine’s Day just two weeks away, many businesses are gearing up for one of the most commercialise holidays. I see Valentine’s Day packages and special deals almost everywhere I go, listen or read; different hotels are tying up with banks to allure you with their Valentine’s Day Hotel packages and deals. One is throwing in a 5-course dinner by their hotel poolside rooms by their star chef. Not only that, it is topping up that dinner by welcoming you with chocolate pralines, bouquet of roses and personalised him/her bathrobes. Are you not tempted enough?
Then, there are other hotels that pamper you with complimentary spa with sparkling wine. If you are a very family person and want to share this joy with your children, they are even willing to include complimentary breakfast and extra bed.
And since Valentine’s Day falls on the weekend this year, some of you may be planning for a short weekend getaway. A trip to a beach resort or warmer location may be good. Or how about a weekend cruise? Whatever you may have in mind, I believe you will be able to find great Valentine’s Day travel deals and packages.
With much focus on Valentine’s Day these days, we are truly spoiled for choices - but only if we allow ourselves to be caught up in all the marketing buzz. How are you spending your Valentine’s Day in 2010? Would it just be quiet moments with your loved one? Or would it be a day with your family or friends?
However, beyond the plan you may have, what is most important is how are we loving our loved ones.
Take Valentine’s day as a day to retake love vows for each other. Find the magic in saying, “I’d marry you all over again.” And it can also be a day to show gratitude for the good times and bad times you and your loved one had weathered together.
From just a traditional day on which lovers express their love for each other, Valentine’s Day has evolved and extended that expression of love to both family and friends too. The question is, “Are we showing enough love and appreciation to our families and friends?” It is not difficult for us to show our love and appreciation to our families and friends on Valentine’s Day since it is only a day’s affair. The challenge is showing the love and appreciation to them throughout the year.
Let us remember to regularly show our love and appreciation to those we love. We must learn to shower our loved ones, families and friends with gratitude so they will always feel loved and appreciated. We do not have to wait for a special day like Valentine’s Day. Do it every day.
“When your thoughts are geared in a positive direction, your feelings are peaceful.” - Richard Carlson, Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff ———————-
When our thoughts are positive, we will tend to see possibilities from the difficult situations we are facing. However, when our thoughts are negative, we can be easily irritated or agitated. The good news is, we always have a choice. We cannot always control of what goes on outside. But we can always control what goes on inside.
High-Mindedness is a concept which I read from the book, Calm and Compassionate Children, by Susan Usha Dermond. It is the practice of focusing our thoughts in a positive direction. Although the book explores the usage of this concept in parenting, I believe we can adapt this concept in our everyday life.
Practicing high-mindedness is to focus on uplifting moments in everyday life by paying attention to the positive energy surrounding us. The book shares, “Paying attention to the beauty and kindness surrounding us develops sensitivity and gives a calmer outlook on life because it brings our focus to the moment, away from anxiety about the future or past,”
What we can do, as shares by the book, to practice high-mindedness is noticing, which is an activity to share simple joy of uplifting moments with others; for example, the freshness of the morning breeze, the wind rustling the leaves, the smell of a freshly baked loaf of bread or the cloudless blue sky. When we noticed these simple joys, we shared them with others by bringing it to their attention.
Noticing not only helps us to focus our attention to uplifting moments, but also helps us to count our blessings and be grateful for them. Inevitably, we will also be happier when we are finding more time to notice and rejoice in life’s little blessings.
Noticing is one activity which we can carry out with our family and friends. What is being proposed in the book is for family to share gratitude moments at dinner every evening, where everyone shares something from the day that they are grateful for. It will be challenging and may seem unnatural at first, but practice makes better; eventually everyone will find it easy to share moments from the day they are grateful for.
Practicing high-mindedness through noticing will allow us to focus in the positive direction, to appreciate the simple joys in life and to be grateful for the daily blessings that are coming to us. Through that feeling of peacefulness in gratitude, comes happiness.
A question from the book, “What was your most inspiring moment of the day?“
Weekend is here again. Time to slow down to breathe and to take time to smell the roses. How is the sky over your side? Is it a snowing or rainy day or is it going to be a sunny day? Over here, it is kind of cloudy and while I am typing here now, it is drizzling outside. A gloomy day? Far from that, it is a blessing enough to be alive and kicking! There is no way I can control the weather and I don’t intend to worry about it either. Since the rain is here, I might as well enjoy a cup of hot chocolate while listening to the sound of the rain and enjoy the goodness of it.
Like what Dolly Parton said, “…if you want the rainbow, you gotta put up with the rain.” Perhaps, I can bring a little rainbow to you through this beautiful medley of “Over the Rainbow” and “What a Wonderful World” arranged by Israel Kamakawiwo’ole. However, this version is covered by Aselin Debison. I found it soothing and it reflects my feeling for this weekend - “Rainbow” and a “Wonderful World.”
I wish for you a wonderful weekend with all the goodness in your life.
Over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful World
Somewhere over the rainbow way up high
And the dreams that you dream of
once in a lullaby
Somewhere over the rainbow bluebirds fly
And the dreams that you dream of,
dreams really do come true
Someday I’ll wish upon a star, wake up where the clouds are far behind me
Where trouble melts like lemon drops
High above the chimney tops,
that’s where you’ll find me
Somewhere over the rainbow bluebirds fly
And the dreams that you dare to, oh why, oh why can’t I?
Well I see trees of green and red roses too,
I’ll watch them bloom for me and you
And I think to myself, what a wonderful world
Well I see skies of blue and clouds of white
and the brightness of day
I like the dark
and I think to myself, what a wonderful world
The colors of the rainbow so pretty in the sky
are also on the faces of people passing by
I see friends shaking hands saying,
How do you do?
They’re really saying, I — I love you
I hear babies cry and I watch them grow,
they’ll learn much more than we’ll know
And I think to myself, what a wonderful world
Someday I’ll wish upon a star, wake up where the clouds are far behind me
Where trouble melts like lemon drops
High above the chimney tops,
that’s where you’ll find me
Somewhere over the rainbow way up high
And the dreams that you dare to, oh why, oh why can’t I?
This is the month of Christmas. If you have read a post I did on Christmas last year, you would know that I grew up listening to the Christmas songs of Alvin and the Chipmunks. I bought the cassette tape version of A Chipmunk Christmas and I listened to the storyline every night while I dozed off to my dreamland.
The story told of Alvin whom unselfishly gave his golden harmonica to a very ill boy, Tommy, in the hope that he would get better. Isn’t this the true spirit of Christmas? A time of giving to our family and friends and especially to strangers we have never met. And yes, I do agree that the spirit of giving should be all year long and not only during Christmas.
Last year what my friend and I had done are to pool some money to buy presents for the poor children in her community. We did not have a lot of money but she and her cousins managed to buy a lot of presents. They had a great time shopping and wrapping the presents. She told me that the children were really happy to receive all those presents. And that made me very happy too. However, sad to say I would not be able to do much of that this year. How about you, what would you be doing this Christmas?
If you have no idea, maybe you would like to be involved with this great ecookbook idea from Patricia Wisdom; her creative way of helping to spread word on UNICEF. Do hop over to take a look.
Join the Mailing list for Daily Love Quote in your Email now and get a Free copy of "What
is Love?"
movie.
The name and email address collected are not sold, given, or in any way disclosed to a third party. We will never give out your email address.
Subscribe
With Valentine’s Day just two weeks away, many businesses are gearing up for one of the most commercialise holidays. I see Valentine’s Day packages and special deals almost everywhere I go, listen or read; different hotels are tying up with banks to allure you with their Valentine’s Day Hotel packages and deals. One is throwing in a 5-course dinner by their hotel poolside rooms by their star chef. Not only that, it is topping up that dinner by welcoming you with chocolate pralines, bouquet of roses and personalised him/her bathrobes. Are you not tempted enough?
