For my Odyssey post I wanted to do a Valentine's posts, but as anyone who reads my posts know I talk about how much I love my friends and family already...which I am not discrediting but I do not want to be redundant. I decided to make up an acronym for the word love that takes on a new meaning. I am sure I am probably not the first, so I will give credit where credit due, but to truly experience love I believe it is vital not to just experience romantic love, but rather love in all aspects.
We have all been in some retail store where some coffee mug or wall hanging had the quote, "Life, Laugh, Love" on it. As cheesy as it is, it holds a lot of truth in vital happiness. My acronym for the word LOVE is Living Out Vital Experiences and I feel that is the basis of love in our lives. We all have experiences that shape us into the person we are today. I was listening to a Ted talk my boyfriend was watching last night and the speaker said "our experiences are unique to us and every person's experience is different and no 2 people will experience something in the same way." It is so fascinating to me that we can all be so similar, but so vastly different in the way we live out our daily lives. We each enjoy different things like what we chose for fashion, music, leisure activities, sports team....you name it. Something that has been evident in my life is making sure to enjoy the little things of life because they turn into big things.
Whether we are in the midst of major stress or on cloud 9, we all need to do at least one thing that will lift our spirits and make us smile, however that looks like in your life. Go to the football game with your family and celebrate with queso and chips afterwards, take the day to read your favorite book with the cup of coffee, take the random road trip, whatever makes you smile the most...do it, you won't regret it. These experiences are vital to our overall well-being and when we are having a rough day we can remember them and smile.