The Sunday Series (kind of), with Mark Brodinsky

The Sunday Series is all about courage, hope and inspiration. Yet at the foundation of all of this is usually one other thing, love.

It’s Valentine’s Day and with that in mind there is no story today, just a few thoughts to share, most of those words from a blog post on this very site on 2/14/13 – about the meaning of this day – and an addition about the meaning of today for those who are part of my daily world.

The Sunday Series: What About Love?

So it’s a Hallmark Holiday. No kidding. The commercialization of love, romance and all that stuff. Kind of makes you feel like you have to do something, or someone else will think you not worthy. Special lunches, dinners, flowers, dates, cards, candy…the list goes on and on. You certainly don’t feel like being told to do those things, right?

Who would?

Then again, suppose you were already were doing these things every day. Suppose Valentine’s Day was not the only day of the year you chose to do something special for someone else. Suppose those types of thoughts and actions were habits, or at least part of your schedule every week, or every month. Just suppose.

Then maybe it’s not a chore, or a last-minute hustle, hurdle or hassle. Maybe you’re not almost forgetting to do something because the date crept up on you, the thought of what love really means escapes you, or worse, it just simply makes you want to rebel against the whole crazy thing.

Valentine’s Day doesn’t have to be like that and for you, maybe it’s not. It’s been posted all over the place this weekend, every social media and mass media site you can think of. Share the love. Appreciation for who is in your life. Gratitude for the ones you love. Nice that there is a day to focus on that…but wouldn’t it be cool if it wasn’t just one day? Maybe, every day?

It literally takes a few seconds a day to tell the people in your life you love them. And it takes just a few minutes a day to think of why you are grateful for them and what they do to enrich your life. If you turn your attention to those things every day… a few seconds, a few minutes, it’s amazing what can happen. Suddenly it’s no longer a once-a-year chore, it’s part of the fabric of your life. And every thread of that fabric makes a difference.

For me there are the three women who make up the fabric of my own existence, my wife Debbie, my daughters Sophie and Emily. If I only reserved one day a year to make sure they knew I loved them I’d be missing out on most of the meaning of my life. Maybe for some you always show it, I don’t think it ever gets old for them to hear it, especially since we can never, ever be sure it won’t be the last time. Life can be fleeting, the foundation of love should not be so.

A little love every day goes a long, long way. Think not? Here’s the inside of the Valentine’s Day card from Emily just a few years back: “Daddy, Happy Valentine’s Day! You are so amazing and make me smile every day. You spoil me so much and I’m so thankful that you are my dad. I love you. From your Valentine, Emily.”

So though we say it every day, before my girls rise today let me write it down for them right here, on this blog, this permanent part of my existence, one day part of my legacy: “Debbie, Sophie, and Emily, I love you every day of my life. Thank you for all you give to me, my world wouldn’t be the same without you.”