Perhaps we become what we love. 

In her book, Find your Courage, 12 Acts for Becoming Fearless at Work and in Life, Margie Warrell writes, "Love, what a mighty word. What a daunting task to find words to wrap around it. Yet love is the essence of what it means to live with an open heart; indeed, love is the essence of what it is to be a human being. Without love, we are shells living vacant lives in a hostile and barren world. But love goes far beyond the edict of ‘love they neighbor as thyself'; how can we ever truly open our heart to one another if we are afraid to first open it to our self.” She goes on to write, "Without hearts open to love, our spirits are closed to life."

We are built to love. Biologically, emotionally, culturally, and spiritually, our existence depends on love to attract us and keep us together. No one goes through life without experiencing disappointments and painful consequences in relationships but, eventually, we can allow ourselves to forgive and love again. Cultivating connections and relationships is natural and, ultimately, we all want to love and be loved. We have come to know, as Helen Keller wrote, “Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.” 

So here it is! We become the story we tell ourselves and become what we love. If it is natural to love, why do we have to be brave to love? In the introduction to our latest book, Living Brave. . . Finishing Strong, Stories of Women Becoming, I wrote, “At the foundation of a person’s life are two questions: who are you and what do you want? Of course, the answers will change many times over. It’s the ongoing cycle of life. All the while, day by day, thought by thought, and choice by choice, we are in the process of continually becoming who we are and getting what we want, until the next level of desire meets up with us. We are created to want and desire more.  It’s who we are as humans. Desires lead the way as we persist in becoming, evolving, and expanding ourselves as we yearn for more of what we want. Mostly, and naturally, we desire to know more.
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"Change! Some love it and others fear it. Most protest and eventually accept its outcome. However, change is constant and touches every area of our lives. Our desires will progress through the four quarters of our lives, and who we are and what we want becomes an endless process of discovery, dreaming, transitioning, and contributing. We can form meaningful relationships, expand our thinking to cooperate with changes, support others along their paths, and we can be a positive influence in our communities.  Most importantly, we need to be brave to allow the process of change to direct and grow us individually into our next best self.”

On this month of celebrating Valentines Day, let yourself love all you want. Keep on loving and enjoy the love that comes your way. Whether through acts of kindness, forgiveness, volunteering, holding hands, giving flowers, girls' night out, a box of candy, or simply saying, "I love you" - and mean it. Fill the world with your love. 

Will you be my valentine?

I love you,

Hilda 

• Seek joy
• Stay Curious 
• Stop Complaining
• Release the weight 
• Court creativity 
• Laugh everyday 
• Earn your self-love
• Say thank you and mean it
• Talk nice to yourself…it’s the longest verbal relationship you will have 
• Perfection is not a virtue or a badge of honor, it’s fear wearing high heels….give it a rest
• Love the one you’re with, no one lives forever
• Stop searching for your passion, its’ already found you
• Believe deeply in something or you will fall for anything 
• Find something every day to appreciate
• Say I love you and really mean it 
• Be the gift you want to receive 
• Unburden yourself from worry
• Say yes as often as possible to opened doors 
• Fear less, live more, cultivate courage 
• Simplify, organize, get more accomplished
• Reality check…be honest 
• Who are you and what do you want now
• Better a trickster, than a martyr be
• Live brave…finish strong

Choose a couple of the above strategies. Commit to exploring and expanding them into your new year. No one loses for trying, only for not. Take 2020 as if your life depends on it. It does!