Okay – so how happy am I that February is almost over! Very.  To me February is the most difficult month.  Why? Well to start, it is a very cold month and not much light (low vitamin D levels = sad month).  That or maybe through my years of academia I’ve learned to dislike the month because it is when midterms occur (and because it is such a difficult month, that is why reading week occurs this month).  So what is my theme for this month?  LOVE!

Have I been influenced by Valentine’s Day? Possibly…. but I find that the month in which we need love and to feel love the most is the month of February as it is the most depressing (in my opinion).  Also, February is the awareness month for Mental Health (SAD, Depression, Anxiety, etc) – disorders in which Love, especially self love, is an important and integral concept.  External love is great (whether it be from family, friends, relationships, splendor of the world, etc.) but the most important kind of love is self love.  And by self love I mean loving the person you are and being true to who you are.

Self love is forgiving yourself for not being perfect (perfection is an illusion… trying to attain it will just make you unhappy).  Self love is forgiving those whom have hurt you (with actions or comments) – allowing the wounds from others to heal and not to hold grudges.  Self love is making mistakes and learning from them, and laughing about them (as they make for hilarious stories).

So this fated February, think of the theme LOVE.  Being loving towards your self and it will reflect in your actions and words towards others.  That and help your self to some discounted Valentine’s Day chocolates – you deserve them!