I’ve been hearing a lot about hearts this past week.  Someone’s heart was broken, another was fluttering with excitement, Barbara Walters was raising awareness about heart disease and every magazine in the grocery store is red or pink and has hearts all over them with titles like “love your heart”, “is your heart in it”, “do it with heart”.

Comments I’ve overheard this week: “I don’t know how you haven’t had a heart attack”, “This get’s your heart going.”, “I’m going to have a heart attack”.

The grocery store is filled with heart cookies, cupcakes with hearts on top, the card isle is pink and red with hearts pouring out of the shelves, flowers and balloons galore, reminding us of Valentines Day. The mall is the same, Valentine specials in every store, there shouldn’t be any reason someone doesn’t know what to get their special someone for Valentine’s Day.

Some years I just dread Valentine’s Day, others, have been celebrated with friends or loved ones.  When my son was growing up, he was such a romantic, I had no choice, he wanted to get the cards done early, he always had a couple special one’s I wasn’t allowed to see and he almost always had a least one girl he got a flower for.  My ritual with him was that I found a plastic red heart when he was young that I filled every year for at least 10 years with chocolates, which are his favorite.  My Grandpa would get those chocolates with the cherries in them, and as I write this I don’t remember if he got them for Grandma or if he and I just ate them!

Whether your heart is taken, broken, fluttering, or pounding, don’t sit back and wait for Valentine’s day to come to you.  You start it, send someone some love whether they are your friend or your lover or maybe a family member. Maybe you send a card, maybe an email, or maybe a phone call just to say Happy Valentine’s Day, whatever it is, start it.

I don’t want to hear it’s overrated or it’s retail holiday (or whatever), start your Valentine’s Day out right and be the first to say “Happy Valentine’s Day”. It’s like smiling and saying hi to a stranger, they can’t help but smile and say hi back. Make YOUR day contagious with happiness and laughter.

I think Valentine’s Day is a day to tell the people you love that you love them.  It’s good for the heart.

(If you go out of your comfort zone and try this, I’d love to hear how your day went.  If you do this on a regular basis, I want to hear about it too!)

Living,