Bring Your Heart to Everything You Do: Happy Valentine's Day（Agapi Stassinopoulos）

I was at an entrepreneurs meeting yesterday and was talking to a very successful woman -- a mother and a businesswoman -- who is now divorced. She was starting to feel sorry for herself because she didn't have anyone. That is what prompted me to write this blog, to address the craziness that we get caught up in on Valentine's Day. If that special someone doesn't meet your expectations today, remember: It's just another day to offer what we can offer 356 days a year, 24/7. If it has a charge on you, share your heart unconditionally, and make it a fun day.

Valentine's Day is such a set up. For one, it is set up with so many expectations for the people who don't have that one and only special person, to feel excluded from what they assume (and trust me, it is an assumption) other people have with a special person in their life. The people who have someone special are filled with expectations of what their special person will get them as a gift, where will they take them for dinner, should they send them flowers. They want to figure out what they need to give the other person to remind them how special they are on this day.

My dear friends, let's end this insanity today. Valentine's Day is just another day to celebrate love. Love comes in many forms, shapes, and opportunities 365 days a year, 24/7. Today, join me in the celebration of love and bring your heart to everything you do. Unleash your heart. Make this Valentine's Day an opportunity to unleash your heart, and make it a little bigger. If you are in an elevator with strangers, smile at them. If you have an extra chocolate in your handbag, pass it on. If you go to the supermarket, bring the cashier a rose. If you are going to the bank, bring the teller a box of chocolates. If you are on the bus, stand up and sing your favorite love song. Do something to break the pattern that might be cycling inside of you, that may be saying, "Woe is me, I don't have anyone special to tell me how wonderful I am and to feel loved and cherished on Valentine's Day."

I think romance is a wonderful thing. It is an opportunity to bring the sweetness and the tenderness of your heart to a more present place. I've always loved the phrase, "Treat yourself as if you were someone inexpressibly dear to you." I think this sweetness and romance starts with ourselves. So today, go buy yourself your favorite flowers, create romantic moments for yourself, and open to a more sharing, loving, and joyful way in everything you do.

I remember some years ago, I would get caught up and feel this pit in my stomach, because someone special wasn't there to take me to dinner and tell me how much he loves me. But now life is different, ever since I have been in this impassioned mission, spreading the Unbinding The Heart message, because I realized when I placed this condition, and I would only spread my love when I was loved in this way, it so restricted me, and bound me -- it created so much unhappiness. As I say, wear Spanx on your hips, and not on your heart. So let's start with the person in the mirror: Give to yourself with such generosity, and if you need a special little something for yourself, ask someone for something you want, and then you can both receive. Create a joyful day for yourself and those around you.

Keep your heart open no matter what -- that's the greatest gift we have as human beings. When things go the way you want them to, or when they don't, we always have the choice of staying open or shutting down. When we are open, we have the opportunity to create what we want. Because when we are open, our perception is open. So as they say, what are you going to give up for lent? Let's give up any feelings of sorriness for ourselves, feelings of what life should have given us. Let's give up any feelings of lack, and know that the most beautiful gift we have as human beings is our heart -- it is always available to us. If we listen, nurture, and learn to share it, our hearts will grow a tremendous capacity for love.

So this Valentine's Day, open the gate, and let the water that is being held by the dam flow. Bring your heart to work, to your family, and to those around -- and sing the song of your heart.