This month is all about tuning into the essence of love. To embody compassion in our lives. How can we use Valentine’s Day as a reminder for love beyond one day?
Something we often forget is that love and compassion are the building blocks for success. Our survival requires food, water, shelter and yes….love.
Without love, we have not completed the foundation of what we need as humans. If we look back to our ancestors, we can easily envision them sitting around the campfire in a circle. Sharing stories. Stories of survival. Stories of love. Stories to help each other learn and grow.
Doing life in a circle is key.
This means building our community of fellow tribe members. Finding your tribe and building your community means knowing yourself.
Instead of looking at February 14 as one day to celebrate love, I want to challenge you today.
I want to challenge you to take every single day this month to build your foundation. To get curious about who you are and what you need. And to share love and compassion with the world.
Are you up for the challenge? If the answer is yes, please add your commitment as a comment below.
What the Challenge Means..
Step One: Know Yourself
Take some time to get clear on who you are and what you want. We can’t help others until we help ourselves. Take care of yourself so that you can share love and compassion with others. So that you can build your community.
Here are some questions for you to reflect and journal on:
- Do you have a solid foundation built on love and compassion? If not, what do you need to do today to build it?
- What are your core values? What four or five values are at the core of who you are in every action you take?
- What is important about the relationships you build? Do you need them to share your values? Have the same goals? Have a similar interest?
- What do you need today to love yourself 100%?
After answering these questions for yourself, don’t forget to take action. If you identify things you need to do to feel like you love yourself, be sure to take action. Make room to make it happen. If you need to make changes to firm up your foundation, make that happen. Without action, nothing changes.
Step Two: Shore Up Your Foundation
No matter how strong we believe our foundation is, there’s always room to improve.
To be a beacon of light in this world, we have to show up as the best version of ourselves. That starts with a solid foundation built on love and compassion.
Questions to consider:
- Am I making myself a priority?
- How can I uplevel my self-care?
- Is there anything in my life that feels out of balance (i.e. I’m not making space for creativity or fun or travel)?
- Do I love myself? Every single part of me? My body? My emotions? My life?
- How can I love myself more?
- How can I be more compassionate towards myself? Is there something I need to forgive? Or let go of?
We all have seasons where we have a lot to forgive. Or a lot to heal and let go of. These seasons can be difficult. They can make us feel less love and more alone. When that happens, we must uplevel our self-care. We must reach out for support.
You’ve got this!
Keep up the great work.
This challenge is not for the faint of heart.
Stick with me butterflies….
Step Three: Spread Love & Compassion
Whenever I’m feeling down, the best way to get out of my funk is by helping someone else. It could be a small thing like sending a text to someone I love saying how much I appreciate them. Or I could smile at a stranger who looks like they are having a tough day. I could let something go ahead of me in line at the grocery store.
Whatever it is, it boosts my mood when I am in service to others.
The last part of my challenge is for you to do one act of love or compassion every single day this month.
Here are some ideas to get you going:
Send a thank you note to someone you admire
Text an old friend and share why you love them or look up to them
Call an old mentor and ask them how it’s going. Listen and offer support.
Pay for someone’s coffee just because
Buy someone’s meal at the drive through
Write a positive review for a local business you appreciate
Give a loved one a unique compliment
Clean the dishes or take out to trash without being asked
Book a special date with your significant other
You get the idea. Have fun with this. Be creative. And if you have a great idea, share it. Comment below.
I would love to hear about all your acts of kindness and love.
And if you accept my challenge this month, let me know. I want to hear how it’s going throughout the month. Share your experience.
That’s how we grow together.