Valentine's Day, Let's simply celebrate love in all its forms!

Oh the anticipation! We decorated boxes with hearts, ribbons, glitter and other beautiful things, and put them on our desk, awaiting the delivery, hopefully, of valentines from our friends and admirers.

For many this day was fraught with expectation and a tiny amount of fear. “What if no one likes me? What if someone gives me one of the mean Valentine’s?” Were you one of the lucky ones who got lots of cards, or did you sometimes feel left out? Valentine's Day for many became something to be dreaded rather than anticipated.

The romantic expectations of Valentine's Day create a lot of mixed emotions, even pain. Those who are not in a relationship often feel left out, unloved and sad. Even being in a relationship doesn't mean it's going to be an enjoyable day. There are a lot of expectations that often go unmet. Partners don't or can't live up to the romantic dreams of their partners or feel so pressured by it all that they give up before they start.

This photo shows some of the many faces of Valentine's Day. It's so mixed for many people that one California winery has a Love's Me package with romantic wines and pretty pictures, and they have a Love's Me Not package, with a voodoo doll and a Zinfandel called The Heart of Darkness. (Well, they used to have it, I just looked it up and it doesn't seem to be available this year). I'm sure you could create your own Love Me, or Love Me Not, selection.

I've never been a big fan of "forced" celebrations for many of those reasons. We tend to twist ourselves into knots trying to make a "perfect day" of it and fulfill all those dreams. I don't know about you, but when I try to do that, it almost never works.

What can we do instead? My husband and I had a very rocky first Valentine's Day when we first started dating. The day before was Friday the 13th, when he got to his office the bank was there to declare the company bankrupt and close their doors. The banker thought the irony of it being Friday the 13th was very funny. Needless to say, celebration and romance was not in the cards for the following day. Since that time, we've agreed to not try to create a romantic day of it, but to simply exchange thoughtful cards, talking about what we appreciate about each other and our relationship. We often laugh about our first Valentine's Day over a simple dinner and glass of wine.

What if we re-frame Valentine's Day as a day in which we celebrate the power of love?

Instead of thinking about all the unmet expectations and sense of isolation this holiday often brings about, we can use this as an opportunity to spread love...not just romantic love, but actual heartfelt compassion for others and ourselves?

• Smile at everyone you meet.
• Stop by a nursing home or hospital and take some treats - sweets may not be welcomed or healthy, so how about some lotions, books, magazines, even craft items. Stay and have a conversation with some of the patients who don't have visitors.
• Call someone you haven't talked to in a while just to say "hi".
• Write a letter to a friend (or two or three), use nice stationary. I guarantee they'll be surprised, since most of us just send emails.
• Share a CD of music that inspires you.
• The children of your household are simply gonna love this. Write up little notes about how you feel for them and what they mean to you and place them around your house along with a candy heart or other treat. Add a riddle at the end of each note about where to find the next note. At the last note, have something special waiting there, say a teddy bear or other toy or treat. Make sure that you hide the notes when none of the little ones are watching, or else all the fun is going to be spoiled. (I found this idea on www.theholidayspot.com)
• Have a party. Invite all your friends to come share an evening of friendship and love.
• Call a single friend or two invite them for dinner or a movie.
• Get together with friends or even your children and go to a shop that lets you make ceramics or jewelry right there. You'll have fun and something to keep or give away as a gift.
• For yourself; treat yourself to a massage or spa day, take a long hot bath, buy something new, fix a lovely dinner and enjoy it with a glass of wine.
• Buy yourself jewelry with hearts on it or a Heart BioElectric Shield just to remind you that love is around you all the time.

It's even possible to own and wear two Shields (not at the same time please). Some people have their "Regular Shield" but also have a heart Shield for days when they want to feel love, or be reminded to share the love they have with the world. You may not want to wear a heart all the time...but it can be a nice change.

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Letting in the Love/Shielding out the Rest

I talk frequently to people in the healing professions or who work with the public and they are truly exhausted. They are doing their jobs because they care about people and want to help. But as often happens they are giving too much of their own energies and suffering in the process.

I met Mark at a trade show a few years ago. He worked in a facility with 180 critical care patients. He was dealing with people in pain, in fear and a plethora of emotions. The intensity of all this would be difficult for almost anyone to withstand. He was exhausted, and often came home feeling drained and off balance. As we talked it was clear that he was being affected by all the emotions he was dealing with but also with people who were so needy they were basically energy vampires.  I explained that the Shield would help by strengthening his energy so the vampires couldn't get to him, and also that it would deflect their fear and emotions. He was excited, but then worried that if the negative emotions were being deflected, maybe the Shield would also deflect the love and positive experiences as well.

Here's the good news. The Shield can deflect the negativity and fear and still let in the love and harmonious emotions. The way this has been explained to me is that emotions have a wave frequency and peak at different points along that wave. Negative emotions and fear tend to have very high and low peaks, while peaceful, loving emotions are much smoother. The Shield strengthens your energy frequency in such a way that the spiky, high peak and trough emotions are deflected, but the good ones are at a frequency that is in harmony with are still allowed in. In fact, since you're no longer struggling so much to try to keep out the negative emotions, it's easier to be open to and experience the loving, joyful emotions. The word grace keeps coming to mind here...my feeling is that the Shield allows you to feel that sense of grace, love and gratitude.

Unfortunately, Mark didn't get a Shield. He was absolutely thrilled to have found something that he felt could make a huge difference in his daily life. He's one of those big, kind, compassionate men who just gives so much all the time. His wife came over and wasn't at all open to the idea of him having a Shield. She felt that he should be able to do all this himself. Her Qi Gong teacher had told her that everyone should be able to Shield themselves if they followed the practice. Mark agreed, but said that he felt it took so much of his concentration to do it, that he wasn't able to keep it up all the time.

I was thinking about this more later. I, too, know all the techniques to Shield myself, but it never quite worked for me. When I did it myself, I felt that it not only took too much concentration to maintain, but it was also creating more of a wall of resistance and fear. I felt closed off and isolated. Wearing the Shield, I can focus my concentration on just being present with people, or creating, or writing, or whatever is in the moment. I'm not in that place of feeling the need to protect myself and be on guard all the time.

Some people do have a natural protection, and Mark's wife was probably one of them, so didn't understand how hard it can be. Not being able to keep that protection up isn't a sign of weakness; it's just the way some people's energy works. The Shield can help by allowing you to use your focus and concentration for the positive, loving, creative parts of your life.

If you are the sensitive one in your family, it can be difficult to explain to others who are not so sensitive how difficult it can be. Hopefully, you're in a position where you can follow your own guidance, and make the choice for yourself without having to justify it too much. If you need help explaining, maybe this article will help. "Are You Crazy or Are You a Highly Sensitive Person?"

My experience and that of many others has been that they feel more love in their lives wearing a Shield.

Give it a try for yourself, with our 90 day money back guarantee, you have nothing to lose and so much to gain.

Buy a Shield for someone you love today (and yes, that someone can be you)