It’s hard to go anywhere in February without seeing Valentine’s Day promotions everywhere. February is a month of love and kindness. Of recognising those that matter to us most and celebrating human connection. Whether it’s the love we have for others, or the love we have for ourselves, putting the commerciality of this time aside it’s an ideal time to be practising gratitude and self-care.
Remember the Law of Attraction
Have you ever noticed that when you expect something bad to happen and dwell on all the things that can possibly go wrong, they often do? That’s because of the law of attraction. Like attracts like, so when you’re thinking negatively, you’re more likely to attract those bad things manifesting in your life.
Being aware of how manifesting works, good and bad, is important and I’m currently working through a 7-day Moonology Manifesting challenge with Yasmin Boland, which looks at using the moon cycle to support our manifesting efforts and the powerful effects it can have.
We might think that February is all about physical attraction but it’s a fantastic time to think about the positive things we want to attract into our lives and start manifesting them.
Practice gratitude often
By switching things around and noticing the positive things in your life and being grateful for them you’re going to attract more positivity into your life. US psychologist Robert Emmons found that simply keeping a gratitude journal can significantly increase your life satisfaction and overall well-being.
There are many ways that you can practice gratitude, common approaches are:
- Keeping a daily gratitude journal
- Writing letters of gratitude to our family, friends, loved ones, clients, etc (you don’t have to send them!)
- Displaying post-it notes around the house to show gratitude for things your family have done (like washing the dishes without asking!)
- Keeping a gratitude jar – write down on a small piece of paper every time something you’re grateful for happens, fold it up and put it in the jar. Whenever you’re feeling low, empty it out and remind yourself of all the good things that have happened to restore some positivity to your day
Pay it forward
It can perhaps feel a little selfish to be reflecting on all the good things that are happening to us when we know there are many people around the world going through difficult and terrifying experiences right now.
That doesn’t have to be the case. You can reflect and attract positivity in your own life through practising manifesting and gratitude while giving back to others simply by paying it forward.
Paying it forward is responding to someone’s kindness to you by being kind to someone else. This can be as small as paying for an extra cup of coffee at a coffee shop so the next person gets a surprise treat, giving a stranger a compliment, asking your neighbours if they need their lawn cutting when you do yours, or even upgrading a service/discounting or offering for free to a client who may not be able to afford it otherwise.
One of the ways I pay it forward is by supporting the rescue centres that allowed me to adopt my three rescue dogs. Some of the dogs have been through such a harrowing time at the hands of others but by supporting the charity when I can, I’m able to bring back some happiness to these dogs’ lives and brighten the lives of those who adopt the dogs too (there’s nothing quite the same as being loved by a rescue dog!)
Love can come in many forms from physical attraction to compassion and empathy. And love for ourselves is just as important as love for others, often we burn ourselves out trying to care for our loved ones in our lives by putting our needs second.
I hope this blog is helpful in avoiding the commerciality of Valentine’s Day and remembering what love, kindness and gratitude is really about and why we should be practising it every day of the year, not just the 14th of February!
If you find you just don’t have the time for the important things in your life, like self-care and giving back to those less fortunate, why not get in touch and see how working with a VA could help.