OLD BOOTS AND SUCCULENTS. Happy Valentine's Day Fellow Steemians!

“OLD BOOTS AND SUCCULENTS.” This is what Valentine’s Day means to me.

I know what you are thinking. Where are the chocolates and red roses? What’s up with the Old Boot and Succulent pics?

I’ve been thinking a lot about Valentine’s Day for a few days, knowing it was approaching and naturally, most of my thoughts revolved around my 48 year old marriage to the love of my life; my husband, John. But Valentine’s Day is about more than romantic love I believe. Why should those without a loving spouse or partner miss out on receiving love on this world wide recognized ‘Day of Love?’

Today, I want to share my love to friends and family members and tell them how special they are to me and how much I appreciate them hanging around through the good times and the bad. All relationships are difficult to maintain at times. All have their ups and downs and it most definitely takes two willing participants to work together in order to maintain or cultivate loving and healthy relationships.

Life is not a bed of roses and even if it was, someone would have to painstakingly remove every sharp thorn to create a fragrant, silky smooth mattress to lay down on. With that in mind, I take a long and reflective look at these photos of an old boot and haphazard arrangement of succulents.

What do you see when you look at the first image? Is it the tired but comfortable looking boot, a wooden heart, or the succulents? Perhaps, if you are artistically inclined, you will see it as a novel collective piece; a unique and interesting creation.

This is what I see. I have received many Valentine gifts from my husband but most of them have not been given to me on ‘Valentines’ Day. Very unorthodox you may think. But our method of celebrating this special occasion is much more meaningful because, two years from celebrating our 50th wedding anniversary, (spoken like the proud teenage bride that I was,) we’ve worked out that our deep appreciation for each other simply cannot be confined to just one day of the year. We celebrate Valentines Day’s often throughout the year.

We’re very aware of how commercialism has eroded the true sentiments of the most celebrated and recognized milestones in our lives. There have been many times over the years when we simply did not have the means to be extravagant with presents, but this has not diminished our ability to celebrate every present-less occasion with joy and love.

Therein lies the key to the longevity of our abiding relationship. LOVE. Oh.....I am so aware that LOVE is a HUGE subject. So, what is my brief interpretation of love? I believe that True Love is all about the act of giving. Love is an action word and if it survives the first flush of romance, and the incredible high of Being In Love, it has a good chance of lasting into our eventide years. During the early stage of a relationship when our emotions carry us on a bubble of excitement it is easy to return the love you are receiving. But the act of giving when reality eventually hits and the humdrum of coping with the stresses of life inevitably push romance aside, is on a much higher level than what we experience during those halcion days of the relationship.

Giving when it is a sacrifice to do so, is the ultimate act of Love in my opinion. I’m not talking about giving beyond our means or giving to get something in return. I see a lot of self-love on a regular basis. I see people choosing partners because the one they choose makes them look more attractive or more powerful. I see ‘lovers’ boasting about their over-the-top gifts from their spouses or partners on FB etc.

In this regard, I’m not referring to the occasional, genuine, appreciation of a gift that one values greatly. I’m talking about an obsessive need to show the world often that they possess expensive, high end branded items, hoping to evoke jealousy in others. I believe those people may be starved of true love and my heart goes out to them. Love and happiness appear to be the most sought-after emotions which people seek and long for. They do everything in their power to obtain happiness or love, and sometimes in their quest to reach this desirable state, compromise decent values and ethics. Love is most definitely something you receive from others but unless it is given away with unselfish motives and received in the same manner, happiness may always remain just out of reach. If we can change our focus on how to make sure the special people in our lives are happy and loved above our very real need to be loved, that’s when those gifts are returned to us in full measure.

I look at this tired, much worn, comfortable old boot and for me, it represents the kind of love I am truly blessed to share with John. Our love has lasted long, and it has served us well. It has survived some very prickly and uncomfortable situations and that’s what those succulents represent for me. A mature and lasting love is one that alternates in experience between the comfortable and the very uncomfortable.

But what supports that love? The sum of what is in our hearts. Not the superfluous, nor a bunch of accumulated things. Or even our own individual achievements, because unless we can share those achievements which have been made possible by the sacrifice of the other, they don’t mean an awful lot. The solid, deeply textured, perfectly shaped wooden heart, which is propping up that old boot filled with prickly succulents is the vital ingredient.

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY EVERYONE! Thank you for the love and support I receive from you every day. I love you all!

I leave you with the best description of love that I know.

“Love is patient, Love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast. It is not proud.
It does not dishonour others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered.
It keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.
It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres."

Source: 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 NIV Version.