On the eve of Valentine’s day, let me remind you of the joy of surprising your ‘the one’ with the best gift ever.

You do want to make sure that our gift is perfect and it reminds your “special one” of how much you admire them. I am sure most of you have already found THE gift which is both unique and special and to them, I’d say ‘Congratulations‘.

But today, I write for the ones who are still hunting for perfect gift. The ones who are still hoping that some miracle would help them figure out the perfect gift. So to them I’d say – This could be your miracle. The best gift that you can give to someone you are devoted about. And guess what? It will not cost you a dime. And the catch? – It’s not a one time thing.

It is not only special and unique, it also takes a lot of work, which makes it such an invaluable present –

Kindness can never go overrated. It is fundamental to human existence. The first time you ever felt it was the day you were born and then every day since. It is very easy to be kind to someone you do not know. But when it comes to people you do know, you end up telling yourself that being kind isn’t important. You make up reasons not to be kind. This Valentine, how about you tell yourself there can be no reason NOT to be kind to anyone.

Be the person who understands not the words but the feelings. Be someone who knows words can never express how a person truly feels. So, be polite enough to acknowledge every feeling and kind enough to respect them.

We all want our soulmate to be smart. But finding someone smart is not very difficult. There are many smart ones out there waiting to be found. And if that is what you want then you don’t have to work very hard. But if you want the one in a millionth one, then find someone who is smart and kind. Now that’s what we call, A Rare Combination. Finding them may take time but it would definitely be worth the wait.

Empathy is something we have all heard of. But what is it exactly? Google describes it to be the ability to understand and share the feeling of another. In other words, it means trying to imagine what the other person is going through given their circumstances. It is understanding the feelings they are going through.

The great gift of human beings is that we have the power of Empathy.

– Meryl Streep

We tend to disregard feelings of those we care for by saying ‘you are wrong to feel that way’. But people can only be wrong about a fact or a situation or maybe about their interpretation. But they can never be wrong about how it made them feel.

It’s an emotional reaction to what they felt about the situation. Your real intentions no matter how good, cannot change how someone else feels. Empathy is knowing that everyone has a right to feel the way they feel. Showing empathy means respecting those feelings regardless of your opinions.

Compassion is sometimes confused with empathy. What makes it different is that it’s not just about knowing and understanding how others feel. Having compassion takes more than just feeling sorry for someone. It includes doing something to help them get through it. Trying to make them feel better. Trying to help them out of a situation. Making sure that you do whatever it takes so they do not have to feel the same ever again. And that is why it is said – ‘Compassion has the power to heal every wound‘.

A kind gesture can reach a wound that only compassion can heal.

– Steve Maraboli, Life, the Truth, and Being Free

Patience is the most important virtue. It is something we always debate about. But don’t we all have it. Aren’t we all waiting for something? Haven’t we all at some point let go of something that happened or something that was said?

Waiting for someone to remember. Waiting for someone to understand. Waiting for someone to reciprocate. Waiting for someone to love’. But that is just it. This is all ‘waiting’. But patience does not mean just waiting.

Patience is not the ability to wait. It is the ability to keep a good attitude while waiting.

– Joyce Meyer

It doesn’t mean letting go of something so that something better can come along the way. Because this is just giving up on that ‘something’.

Patience means giving situations time to work itself out while being kind and compassionate during that time. Not letting the pain of waiting overpower the strength of your character. Being the best of the person you are while you wait.

Respect can never be demanded, It has to be earned – I used to keep telling myself this over and over again. I did believe it. But with time I realized that it could not have been more wrong. This just turned out to be an excuse to be rude to people who were not so good to me.

When we respect someone for the work they do or the way they act or the things they say, we call it Admiration. In Admiration, respect occupies just one part. But respect alone is not the privilege for someone you look up to. It doesn’t have to be earned.

The thing about values is that it does not depend upon the person it is intended for. It depends only on you.

The most valuable lesson on humanity is “Respect Everyone Equally”. Be it people you know, people you don’t. People you like, people you dislike. Your respect doesn’t have to be filtered. Because it’s not about respecting an entire being. There is a lot within a person that is worth respecting.

Instead of respecting a person as a whole, you could respect their feelings, human emotions, dreams and desires, faith, privacy, experience, traditions, religion, situations. And if that is not enough, you can respect human race.

With this approach, you will end up respecting everyone no matter what you feel about them. Whether you are angry or sad, disappointed or distressed. You will always have the pinch of kindness, compassion and patience in all your actions.

Forgiveness is the only gift you need to gift yourself first. It’s not about being the better person or letting someone off the hook. It’s about working towards understanding yourself and keeping your own conscience at rest.

By forgiveness, I do not mean letting go of something that happened. It means acknowledging, accepting, contemplating, conversing, working your way through it and then giving a second chance (or third, or fourth..). If you are going to do it, do it the right way or do not do it at all. Whether it’s for yourself or someone else. Whether it’s forgiving someone or asking for it.

There is no love without forgiveness, and there is no forgiveness without love.

– Bryant H. McGil

Honesty is the best policy. One of the most spoken-of values of all times. Occasionally or not, we all lie. Most of the time we work our-self up so much that we end up believing our own lie. But what we do not realize is that it will only make you feel better about yourself for a while until the reality hits you in the face.

It is not the lie that passes through the mind, but the lie that sinks in and settles in it, that does the hurt.

– Francis Bacon

This is the reason why you need to start being honest to yourself first even before you can share this gift with someone else. Lying to yourself is like just scrubbing the wound and hoping it will heal. But to heal the wound you need to know the cause, the right medicines to help with the healing and of course, giving it time. It may take time for honesty to show it’s true colours but with time it will and things would end up being better.

People think it is okay to say white lies to protect someone from pain. There are no white lies. There is truth and then there is plain and simple – Lie. Temporary relief does not help with temporary grief. Truth finds a funny way of coming out and always when you least expect it. And this ends up being even more painful. Grief needs truth to help with the healing. How about giving truth a chance and wait to see the magic it brings. Sometimes, honesty makes people fall in love even more. Honesty has the power to help build a strong relationship. Then why ruin it with short-term relief.

Gratitude is quite simply appreciating all that you have. It is very important to be grateful for all that you are blessed with. Family, Love, life, Friendships, Opportunities and most of all – Time. Be grateful that you have that special someone to share Love, Kindness, Empathy, Compassion, Patience, Respect, Forgiveness and Honesty.

Gratitude is the healthiest of all human emotions. The more you express gratitude for what you have, the more likely you will have even more to express gratitude for.

– Zig Ziglar

Relationships may start with Love but it takes more than just love to make it work. It needs you to be patient enough to be kind. Kind enough to show respect. Respectful enough to be honest. Honest enough to have empathy and compassion. Compassionate enough to Forgive and Grateful enough to know that you have more than just love in your life.

A Priceless Valentine’s Day Gift Would Be A Better You!!!!!!