‘I Love You’ – three little words that will be said, signed, or possibly even sung in the next few days as we celebrate Valentines Day. Many people will take the opportunity to declare their love for another, whether by card or in person. It’s one of those days that allows us to say how we feel about someone else without embarrassment.
The idea of celebrating love is not confined to here, but is also celebrated in other parts of the world, although not necessarily on the same day. Where as here Valentines Day is usually the declaring of love from one person to another – in other countries the idea is about love and appreciation. Apparently in Mexico,Guatemala and in El Salvador, Valentine's Day is known as "Día del Amor y la Amistad" meaning the Day of Love and Friendship, and it is not uncommon to see people do "acts of appreciation" for their friends.
Although Valentines Day is celebrated generally in the United States , as a joke they sometimes refer to it as as "Singles Awareness Day." Children in elementary schools, decorate classrooms, exchange cards, and eat sweets. In the cards the children often mention what they like and appreciate about each other. It’s a day of enjoying and appreciating those around us.
Are there people around us, who we appreciate for who they are and what they do. We don’t have to rush out and buy them flowers or give them a card, but what about saying ‘Thank you’, or buying them a cup of coffee or complimenting them.
Maybe we don’t need to say anything at all, but just do something. As Mother Teresa observed “Everytime you smile at someone, it is an action of love, a gift to that person, a beautiful thing."
