Hello Beautiful Lights of Love!
I’m a week late and a cherry dessert Danish recipe shy, but my dad died last week, and between coping with his loss, family drama and trauma, and my chronic fatigue, I find I’m struggling. So for now, let’s talk about the message that beats loudest in my heart, body, and soul: Be Love.
I promise I’ll get you that recipe, but for today, in this month of love, let’s talk love.
To me, there are 3 big hearts in Being Love:
- Surround yourself with love
- Share your love with others
- Love yourself
Surround yourself with love
There’s a saying out there that says you are the average of the 5 people you spend the most time with. It’s an interesting idea, and one I believe in. People who stand by you and bring you up help you be your best self; whereas people who do the opposite, make it so much harder for you to be your best self. Living in POSitivity, happiness, love, kindness, and support is heartwarming, smile making, and energizing; whereas, dealing with criticism, angst, sadness, frustration, and drama drags us down and saps us of our energy. So pick your people well.
Find people who love you and who you love. Create your world of love and support by filling it with people who care about you and love you!
Share your love with others
Be it friends. Family. Your special human. Fur babies. All of these. Grow your love by giving it to others and sharing it. Build on commonalities. Experience new things together. Strengthen your relationships with POSitivity and acts of kindness. Be thoughtful and learn more about each other.
And in this month of love, I challenge you to grow your love even more by giving of yourself to someone in need. Make someone’s day. Pick any person who you feel needs a little extra love, help, kindness, and be an expression of love for them. Brighten their day. It doesn’t have to cost money. Just do something that is thoughtful for them. Something that lets them know they are not alone. That someone cares about them. That they are worthy. Quite simply, the difference we need to make in the world starts with each of us.
Imagine how much happiness we can make by being thoughtful for someone in need, giving him or her some love, kindness, and attention. It’s a beautiful thing!
Love yourself
This is the one I think is hardest for most. We’ve been taught to be self-critical to succeed and excel in a competitive world. I feel like we’ve learned not to be patient with ourselves. We’ve learned to be excessively critical and unforgiving. We say mean things to ourselves. Undermining untruths. Have you ever said to yourself things like: I’m so fat. I’m not pretty enough. I’m not that smart. Or maybe you’re a little craftier about it and less direct. Perhaps you say things like: She’s so thin. She’s so pretty. She’s so smart, … all the while using those statements as quiet comparisons to judge yourself by.
It’s amazing and daunting how automatic we can be in self-degradation. And the thing is, in actuality, it’s self-abuse. There’s a destructive effect that comes with constantly telling ourselves negative things about ourselves. If we tell ourselves these negative things long enough, we can start to believe them. It works the same as if someone else is saying negative things to us.
We haven’t really been taught to approach ourselves with kindness, love, and patience. We could instead say things like, “I’m going to find ways to eat and live healthier,” if we feel we are overweight. Or, “I am going to find a haircut that highlights my striking cheekbones, or brightens my eyes,” if we don’t feel confident about the way we look. Or even, “I’m going to learn and experience something new to grow my knowledge-base,” if we feel we could know more.
If repetition breeds belief, then start telling yourself positive things. Good things for you to know and believe about yourself. Reaffirmation is POWERFUL!!! Use it to grow your self-love and self-confidence. And in the areas where you feel you need growth and improvement – give yourself the patience and time you need to grow and learn new things. To become the reality of yourself you want to become. Love yourself!
So in this month of love, I challenge you to tell yourself something positive about yourself each day, even if it is the same thing every day, all month long. Find something you like/love about yourself and tell yourself out loud every day this wonderful thing. It can be something you’re good at like, “I am kind kind to others!” Or it can be something about you physically like, “I have a bright smile!” Or even something emotional/mental like, “I am resilient!” Pick anything – one thing or even many things – and keep reminding yourself every day of the goodness in you. Reaffirm yourself. Love yourself, even if one little bit at a time … because I promise you, you are worth your love!
Until next week …
Loving you Big Time and Hugging you Tightly!!! Remember, surround yourself with love, share your love with others, and love yourself. Together we will make life a happier place to be!
Love and Big Hugs,
More Happiness from Mary Kate
Find more happiness, love, big hugs, support, gratitude, POSitude, and Self-Care in these POSitude cards!
Needing some self-care, love and support? Wanting hugs? Treat yourself or someone you love to these Big Loving, Big Hugging daily inspirational, motivational, and empowering POSitude cards! They really can make a big difference in your day!!!
Get Your POSitude On!
Feel happier! Supported! Loved! Hugged!
Bring brightness and goodness into your day, and into your life!
What beautiful souls like you think about their POSitude cards!
These cards are colorful and cheerful! They stay on my desk at work and have made for great conversation with colleagues. I look forward to choosing my daily pick me up. I reflect on my current mood or what inspiration I need for the day. I do have a few favorites that I’ve used more than once or have displayed longer than just a day.
These cards remind me to stay positive and believe in myself!
Stephanie Shay, 4th grade teacher
I love my POSitude cards! I pick one to display on my refrigerator for the week. Reading the card makes me happy and gives me a variety of ways to stay positive in my daily life. It has also become a conversation piece for all who enter my kitchen.
Karen Henry, Retired 4th Grade Teacher, Personal Assistant
The Positude cards have made a difference for setting the tone during meetings. I have set them in the middle of the meeting table and while we are settling in, people pick them up and read them. This small gesture makes a huge difference in the quality of the conversations we have during our 1:1 meetings.
Mary Freer, University Research Department Administrator
I love my POSitude cards! They are so cute, and the messages are very uplifting and inspiring!
Mary McMurtry, Retired Bookkeeper, Mom, Grandmom
Get inspired every day with a deck of my new POSitude cards! Each deck has 35 different full-color, fun, happy POSitudes (36 cards total, with one card sharing suggestions on how to get the most out your POSitudes.) Available in my Etsy shop. Check them out and learn more, now!
You can find these POSitude cards in my new ETSY shop!!!
Looking for self-care to share love and big hugs for all ages?
Lub’s Very Happy Day! is filled with delightful brightness and big huggy smiles!
Lub is the happiest, PINKest, most love-filled monster, Ever! Her big, PINK heart is always with her, and it beams brightly in everything she does!
Lub loves you!
Join Lub as she shares with you her love and very happy, monster-ifically delightful day! Feel playful and bright, smile big, and be happy! Have fun and be cheerful!
You can find copies of Lub’s Very Happy Day! to adopt at Amazon!