A Valentine Thought
Found in Ryan Sohmer's blog, which is tied to a slightly off color cartoon which I read religiously.
Valentine's Day as a commercial holiday is simply full of shite. It's loud, it's obnoxious and it's plenty overrated and over hyped. Frankly, I have no idea who St Valentine was, or which one of his enemy's hearts he ripped out in order to get a holiday named after him, but that doesn't really matter at this point. At the core of it, the intention of St Valentine's, to me, was something very simple.
It's an excuse.
You know how selfish we all tend to get, how wrapped up in our own stupidities and ambitions we usually are. There are times, many times, that we simply don't see or appreciate all the good in our lives. Despite all our best intentions, as much as we say it will never happen, we are all guilty of this at one time or another.
How often do you express appreciation to those dear people in your life? How often do you get flowers for your wife or girlfriend? How often do you show up at your mother's house with a box of chocolates and a card?
Probably not as often as you should.
Well now you have an excuse, that extra little push to do something that you should be constantly doing anyways.
So forget about the overblown gestures of romance and love today, and instead, focus on the little ones, the important ones, to the people that matter.
Tell your father how much you respect him, and how you wish that you grew up to possess even half his morality and integrity. Tell your mother that you don't spend time with her because you have to, but because you genuinely want to, and that you consider her one of your closest friends. Tell your brother how proud you are of everything he's accomplished professionally, and that from time to time, he actually acts his age. Tell your significant other how she constantly makes you smile and somehow manages to quiet that chaotic piece of real estate you call a mind.
Valentines Day. It's an excuse.
Use it.