Valentine’s Day is here, which could mean one (or a combination) of a few different things for you. Either a.) You will be spending at least part of today with someone you love, b.) You are fighting to not get sucked into a downward spiral of depression, having been accosted by annoying displays of hearts and chocolates and flowers everywhere you go, and will be self-medicating with discount Russell Stover’s tomorrow, c.) You could not care less about a commercialized holiday that puts an enormous amount of pressure on everyone involved; your day will be business as usual, or d.) You will be taking back VDay with your friends, celebrating the love you have for one another and the love you are developing for yourself.
If you are in a b.) situation, please know that I hear you. Loud and clear. Like, we could be binge watching The Office and baking chocolate chip cookies together right now. I cannot even tell you how much day-after-Valentine’s-Day discount chocolate I have drowned my sorrows in over the years. My comfort chocolate of choice has always been Russell Stover’s Assorted Creams. Their Nut, Chewy & Crisp Assortment was backup, followed by their milk chocolates. Because really, who wants to deal with dark chocolate when you’re depressed?
During those years of Valentine’s Day sorrow, feeling like I would never find true love and would not only die alone, but would die one of those miserable urban deaths where nobody would even know I died and my body would not be discovered until days after when the smell of my decomposed, Russell Stover’s rotting corpse would seep out from under my apartment door and someone down the hall would smell me and be like, “Is the garbage chute backed up or something?”
So yeah. I know all about being depressed on Valentine’s Day.
But here’s the thing. I refused to die that way. Not finding my soul mate was just not an option for me. Now, if you are in a c.) and/or d.) situation and are totally cool with being single, enjoying a girl or boy break or savoring the tingly anticipation of your first relationship to come, you freaking rule right now. I wish I’d had the confidence to be you. Maybe you don’t even want a relationship. I am impressed with your swagger. No matter which situation you are in today, I want to share something about my own process of dreaming big and making that dream reality. I have shared lots of these examples over the years. Today the story is about my fiance, but this is an example that will hopefully inspire any of you with big dreams, no matter what your dreams are.
This magazine ad of a snowman holding a Tiffany’s ring bag was on my dream board for years, then on my scrapbook treasure map.
I looked at my Tiffany’s snowman on my dream board every day and visualized finding my soul mate. While the snowman was in my scrapbook, I didn’t see it every day, but the power of creative visualization was still at work because I had put that positive energy out there and was taking steps every day toward making that dream a reality. This photo shows the actual Tiffany’s ring box and bag that Matt (I never told him about the snowman, FYI) gave me when he proposed…in the winter with snow on the ground and the New York City skyline glittering in the background. And this is my engagement ring!
After years of dreaming big and putting those dreams out there in verbal, written, and artistic form, it never ceases to amaze me when I go back to one of my goal lists and can check something off I’d written years before that I’d totally forgot about. Although I never completely forgot about my snowman, I hadn’t looked at him in a long time. That winter Tiffany’s part of my vision was already manifesting in way more specific detail than I expected it to. I mean, why did I put that particular Tiffany’s ad on my dream board? I don’t do winter. Why not one from spring with pretty flowers, or glowing in the summer sun? You can’t just cut something out of a magazine, glue in on your treasure map, kick back and expect a Tiffany’s ring box to knock on your door. You have to work toward achieving your goal, no matter what your goal is, every day. But it is fascinating how powerful the visual components of your dream can be, and how closely they can manifest in real life.
It’s okay to have bad days where everything is going wrong and you feel hopeless and alone. Feeling like your dreams are out of reach, or worrying that you won’t be able to achieve them, is a natural part of the process. But then a shiny new day comes and you pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and get back on your creative visualization track. Visualize your big dream. Take steps toward achieving it. Put positive energy out into the Universe. And refuse to give up.
Believe in your dreams. Believe in love ❤
Susane Colasanti - Blog 