All that glitters must be love
Today is the facebook & instagram of love, a high stakes day of shine and glamor surrounding love.
We all know that facebook and instagram are a mirage of reality, but all to often through media messaging and social standards - it is all too easy to fall into the anxiety trap - Valentine's day is the day of love.
All that glitters must meet our expectations
Anything less than what is socially expected can send our minds into overdrive and send our anxiety levels up.
We are told that Love on Valentines day must be shown by gifts, gestures and the meeting of self inflicted expectations.
Pause and reflect - where do your expectations for Valentines day come from ?
Pause and reflect - Do you really believe in the facebook and instagram version of love?
Your love, your life, your way
Today can be filled with thoughts of anxiety, unhappiness and despair. Thoughts of comparison against a socially constructed narrative of how people in love should behave and anything less is not love, it is not right, it is not good enough.
Purposefully combat this with Positive thoughts
Take a moment to reflect on the happiness and love in your life, not ‘the instagram flashy love’, the true warmth that comes from someone, a partner, friend, parent or carer who cares for you, who thinks about you, who is there for you.
Today can be filled with anxiety rooted from negative interactions that spiral from those not so perfect conversations, those expected conversations that do not happen the way you demand that they do.
Purposefully combat this with Positive interactions
Throw away the ideas you have of how things should be, choose not to get frustrated and seek out positive conversations with people who make you feel happy, who lift you up. Lift those around you - create a positive energy around you and each interaction you have be positive and choose to show you care to those around you.
Today can be filled with judgment around actions, this judgment comes from years and years of ingrained ideology of how today should be.
Purposefully combat this with Positive actions
Love does not have to be roses, meals and love heart chocolates. Love can be taking that action to show you care in a different way, phone a friend, send a message to someone you have not spoken to for a while. Practice some self care - go for that walk, tidy that messy draw that has been bugging you for a while, start to drink that water, take your pet on a different walk. Whatever makes you smile - take time today or this week to practice that positive action.
