Will you be my Valentine? I do believe.

I can remember that fear, the anticipation, as if it was yesterday. The feeling 'this year, I will be recognized, this year, I will be seen'. Sitting at my home room desk, in middle school, awaiting for some member of the Year Book committee to deliver the most obscene competition of popularity and meaning; carnations sent by admirers and friends. As I sit in embarrassment, anxiously hoping, that someone, somebody, would go out of their way to show they cared. But alas, it was a miracle if one showed up at my desk, but sometimes one was worse than none. Walking through the halls of shame while the popular ones strutted their collections of adornment, as if it really mattered in the outside world. This showmanship of importance, we loathed it, yet at the same time, this display, this show of love, of importance, outside of myself, was all I was seeking, was all I ever wanted. I wanted to be seen, to feel...important.

Most of our lives on this earth are spent attempting to find validation, to search for a meaning outside of ourselves, with an impulsive feeling that we are never good enough, that we need something outside of ourselves to verify our purpose and meaning. Plagued by this 'something more' syndrome, we begin to search for answers, much like the story line of our favorite 'X-Files' episode. We want to believe. But why 'want', why not 'do'?

These obsessive stories about UFOs; holding onto the idea that there is extraterrestrial life on other planets, or even online dating, which can honestly at times, be the same as dealing with aliens. We are constantly searching for life outside of us, something more extraordinary than us, to make us happy. Using the phrase 'I will be happy when....I will be content when...'. But when it comes down to it, do we ever take time to think of the remarkable beings we truly are? Us...humans? To be born with fingers, with feet, with an ability to be aware of consciousness, and how our actions effect those around us. For Christ sake, we sent humans to the moon....to space! We've invented the wheel, commerce, THE INTERNET! Why search outside of ourselves, when really, the true miracle is humanity!  The extraordinary is us, it's within us.

Unfortunately we are plagued by a culture that doesn't see this as enough. From the moment we are born, we are told we are innadequette, not necessarily by our parents (if we are the lucky ones), but more by other relatives, magazines, the media, TV, colleagues, rivals. We need admirers, we need the newest cleanse, we need 7 second abs, we need to lose 10 pounds, we need to always eat organic, we need to post every moment of our life on Facebook, otherwise, it never happened. We are stimulated by the fact that we need more and we need to be more. Where is the 'off' switch? When do we start to put the ear muffs on and not succumb to these lies, and truly begin to believe 'we are the ones we have been waiting for'?

How do we shift this dialogue? How do we re-train ourselves, in the end, re-training society? When we begin to truly believe, not in the unknown, but in what's right in front of us, our greatness, OUR amazement. We no longer put all of our energy in what we want to believe, yet shift our thoughts to the courage it takes to trust. We can begin to understand that our truest, greatest piece of work, is ourselves.

What are you willing to trade out in exchange for an utter and complete belief in the wonder that is YOU? Once we believe, the love just exists, we find a complete compassion for ourselves, in exchange to all beings on this beautiful earth.

But first, we need to start. We must believe.

Sleep tight, beautiful souls.

Lokah Samastah Sukhino Bhavantu

May all beings be happy and free.