Love is all around

I know a lot of people are not fans of Valentines Day. That it's just another made up Hallmark holiday and those who don't have a special someone when the day rolls around, it's just another reminder that you aren't joining in the festivities with everyone else. I get it. I feel the same way about Mother's Day. Every year, it rolls around and I am slapped in the face with a reminder that my Mom is gone.

What if we chose to look at these holidays differently though?

What if, when Valentines Day comes around, we choose to celebrate love, in it's many forms? Love is all around us, we just have to open our hearts and look for it. It's in your best friends hug or your child's laugh. It's in the strangers smile on the bus. It's in your dogs sloppy wet kisses and tail wags. It's even in yourself! What if we spent the day surrounded by friends or family? Or we gave our dogs extra time at the dog park? Or we treated ourselves to a box of chocolates?

Spend the day spreading love everywhere. Goodness knows, this world needs more of that right now! Take the time to let the people in your life know how special and loved they are. Love exists, but sometimes it's just not in the way you think it should be.

This year, for me, when Mother's Day rolls around, instead of feeling sad that I can't be with my own mom, I will celebrate all the mothers that I am surrounded by. I have some amazing women in my life who also happen to be mothers. I will celebrate them and let them know how awesome of a Mom I think they are. I will spend the day remembering my own mother and all the fun times and love that she gave to me. I will remind myself of how lucky I was to have her, even if it was for way too short of a time. Not everyone gets blessed to have a mother like mine.  I might even eat some chocolate and have a cup of tea in her honor, which is not really a stretch for me, is it? :)

Instead of feeling bad on these days that sometimes remind us of things we don't want to be reminded of, maybe we can re frame it in a way that helps us celebrate the day in a different and unique way.

Life is hard. There's no reason to look for reasons to make it harder for ourselves. I am 100% guilty of this. I often see the bad side before I see the bright side, but when I do see the bright side...man, that's the stuff that reminds that the heart of life really is good!

Getting back to the mat...

Is there something that you love doing that you just stopped making time for? Too busy?

There will never be enough time to do everything we want to do but if there's something that sets your heart on fire, do it. Make time for it.

For me, that's yoga.

When I re-incarnated this blog last January, my opening post was about shifting my focus away from yoga. At the time, I was going through some pretty heavy emotional stuff and I placed the blame on my yoga practice. I wasn't giving myself what I needed at the time and yoga took the fall. I wasn't ready for teacher training so instead of just admitting that to myself, I shut it out. I rolled up my mat and placed in a corner of the room.

I have slowly come to realize over this last year that by actually shutting out yoga, something that I love and am passionate about, I was hurting myself more. I am still not ready for yoga teacher training. I may never be. But that doesn't mean that I can't practice.

When I am on my mat, everything else falls away. My mind is at peace. My body is strong. Yoga has never been about the physical for me, although, the benefits are wonderful. It has always been a sanctuary. A place where I can go to be alone with my thoughts, alone with myself. Tune into my body and open my heart. Yoga is my therapy. It keeps my crazy at bay! It's where I turned when I was at my darkest and it is what kept me grounded and led me back to the land of the living. When I lay on my mat in Savasana after a practice, I am overcome with a sense of peace, gratitude and love. Keeping myself from that feeling...well that's just plain stupid :)

So, in the last month or two, I have dusted off my mat and I have made a conscious decision to make time for my practice. I need it. I crave it. I am a better person when I am practicing yoga. It calms my soul.

Especially now, when things are off kilter all around us, it's important for us to take time to do what makes us happy.

What sets your soul on fire? What are you pushing into the background of your life that you need to reignite?

Life is full of things that we will never accomplish, don't make something that you love, be one of them.