There are many meanings of the word “Valentine”. Lets name a few: well, first up, my surname is Valentine (thanks to my Welsh ancestry, but I’ll elaborate on that – maybe, in the future). My beautiful wife says she would only change her name when she got married if she liked her husbands surname, but you can’t go too wrong with Valentine. There is the very popular “Valentine’s Day”; some celebrate this day, some don’t. Chocolates are named after this word. Movies have Valentine in their titles. Marriage vows are said on this day. You could probably think of a few others off the top of your head.

What I mainly want to talk about today is to Valentine YOU is to  Love – YOU!

All the other traits we all desire to have amount to zilch, if one does not have love and one does not love another. The answer to this lies, within. To truly know how to love another human being, one needs to be able to love oneself. 

How do you love yourself? I’m not saying one needs to love his own image (according to Greek Mythology) as Narcissus did when he loved his own reflection in the pool of water. No, I am talking about love in its true essence. What would that be, I hear you say? Well, in my limited view of the world, it would boil down to: unconditional love.

In my opinion, the essence to this is this: YOU have to love yourself, unconditionally.

Love, without a doubt, is the basis of everything. Not some abstract, hard-to-fathom kind of love but the day-to-day kind of love that everyone knows. The kind of love that is not jealous or selfish. The kind of love that we feel when we look at our spouse or partner or children. That kind of love. Next time you are looking in the mirror ask yourself this question: do you love that person looking back at you?

I am convinced that this is not only the most important emotional truth in the universe, it is a spiritual truth too.

For now, I leave you with this message:

Valentine, YOU … Unconditionally!