I think I finally found a way to make peace with this day after years of a love-hate relationship. This is how my affair with VDay developed throughout the years:

• hating it as a teenager because I had no boyfriend
• sending myself Vday cards after deciding I needed no boy to make me feel special
• loving it when finally got a boyfriend and could join the club
• getting disappointed when the boyfriend made no plans
• rebelling against the commercialization of love & badmouthing this ugly holiday that dictates how and when I show feelings of love.

And today? Today I decided to finally make peace with it. Don’t get me wrong, I still don’t agree with this commercialization of love and the pressure it puts on us with the demanding “you must buy over-priced flowers & eat over-priced-crap food to celebrate love today.” But take any holiday & it’s the same commercialized deal — Christmas being definitely the worse.

But rather than being cynical & anti-V, I decided to find a way to embrace it in my own way. And after watching a video podcast (see below), by UCSF’s Dr Margaret Chesney, on the amazing results of combating stress with mindfulness I thought bingo!

This is the strategy I came up with:

Step 1:

Make a list of 14 things I love about my life today. Just take a few moments to breathe, relax, look around me & inside me and just become mindful of all the wonderful things I am surrounded with. All the things I love about my life right now.

Step 2:

Use this list to switch my thoughts & feelings every time I catch myself clenching at the sight of a pink heart or other vday items. Let go of the cynicism, remember one of the 14 things I love about my life today, smile and thus & purposefully push myself into a positive, appreciative state.

Want to join me in this fun experiment? Let me know how it goes.

To Your Succes,
Maria, your Life Coach @Confidence Inside Out

PS For those of you who are maybe so in love with being anti-valentines and asking why bother? The simple answer is that negativity makes you sick. Positive emotions actually enhance your health & well being. All backed up by research and presented by Dr Chesney in the video below.

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