Why I hate Valentine's

Love. There are many forms of love and there are many ways to express it. There’s the love from a friend to a friend, a dog to his master, even from a man to a football team.

Most commonly and romantically there is the love between a man and a woman for each other. And how is this love expressed? Oh, let me count the ways! Well, for a start it isn’t expressed specifically on one day, but on all the other days of the year as well as 14 February.

Society has deemed we all have to celebrate love for our partners magnificently and with more sincerity on this day than – so it seems – on any other day of the year. We seem to forget about the fact that all relationships and love is celebrated on anniversaries, birthdays, Christmas, and (in case they had forgotten) at weddings.

What makes this one day so much more special than a wedding anniversary? Is it because we are forced by consumerism to buy a card? It seems that if we don’t it looks as though we don’t care.

Men have sleepless nights, take days off work, get high blood pressure, take medication because there’s that horrible thought nagging at the back of their minds saying ‘Remember Valentine’s Day, remember Valentine’s Day.’

They have to spend many hours lying there thinking of something that would make a difference. They know they’ve got to do something special, but what? They rack their brains, pull their hair out (if they’ve got any left!) relentlessly worrying about it.

In the end all turns out well, usually. How it does is a mystery. Valentine proves his worthiness as a saint! Of course there’s a big ‘but’ coming here. Why does it have to be shown with a card?

Cards are bought for birthdays or when someone is going through bad times, maybe even for Christmas. But is this how someone expresses love for their partner, by just buying a card?

10. When filling out your driver's license application you give your IP address.

9. You no longer ask prospective dates what their sign is, instead your line is "Hi, what's your URL?"

8. Instead of calling you to dinner, your spouse sends e-mail.

7. You're amazed to find out spam is a food.

6. You "ping" people to see if they're awake, "finger" them to find out how they are, and "AYT" them to make sure they're listening to you.

5. You search the Net endlessly hoping to win every silly free T-shirt contest.

4. You introduce your wife as "my lady@home.wife" and refer to your children as "client applications".

3. At social functions you introduce your husband as "my domain server".

2. After winning the office super bowl pool you blurt out, "I feel so colon-right parentheses!"

And the number one sign you are an Internet Geek:

1. Two Words: "Pizza's Here!"

Women Speak in Estrogen - Men Listen in Testosterone

Relationships:

When a relationship ends, a woman will cry and pour her heart out to her girlfriends, and she will write a poem titled "All Men Are Idiots". Then she will get on with her life.

A man has a little more trouble letting go. Six months after the break-up, at 3:00 a.m. on a Saturday night, he will call and say, "I just wanted to let you know you ruined my life, and I'll never forgive you, and I hate you, and you're a total floozy. But I want you to know that there's always a chance for us." This is known as the "I Hate You / I Love You" drunken phone call, that 99% of all men have made at least once. There are community colleges that offer courses to help men get over this need.

Sex:

Women prefer 30-40 minutes of foreplay.

Men prefer 30-40 seconds of foreplay. Men consider driving back to her place as part of the foreplay.

Maturity:

Women mature much faster than men. Most 17- year old females can function as adults.

Most 17-year old males are still trading baseball cards and giving each other wedgies after gym class. This is why high school romances rarely work out.

Magazines:

Men's magazines often feature pictures of naked women.

Women's magazines also feature pictures of naked women. This is because the female body is a beautiful work of art, while the male body is lumpy and hairy and should not be seen by the light of day. Men are turned on at the sight of a naked woman's body. Most naked men elicit laughter from women.

Bathrooms:

A man has six items in his bathroom -- a toothbrush, shaving cream, razor, a bar of Dial soap, and a towel from the Holiday Inn.

The average number of items in the typical woman's bathroom is 437. A man would not be able to identify most of these items.

Groceries:

A woman makes a list of things she needs and then goes out to the store and buys these things.

A man waits until......

Screenshot:

 

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Real, lasting relationships are built on trust. Trust is foundational because it creates a safe environment for intimacy to grow. If your relationship is going to work you need to be able to trust your partner with your past, your present and your future. Trust takes time and effort, is easily broken and hard to restore but if you're willing to work at it, the reward is the relationship you've always dreamed of.

Revealing Your True Self

Trust allows you to reveal who you really are. In spite of all the tricks we use to try and impress someone during the early stages of dating, intimacy is founded on knowing and being known. Your partner has to get to know the real you – what you're like when you're tired, angry, frustrated, elated or talking to your Mom on the phone. He has to love you as you are, not as he hopes you might be. Anything less won't last.

Have you seen or read Bridget Jones's Diary? There's one scene where Mark Darcy tells Bridget "I like you, just as you are." She is floored. Why such a strong reaction to a simple comment? Because Mark is telling her that he really sees her and he likes what he sees. He didn't say he'd like her ten pounds lighter, or a little more sophisticated, or prettier, or better read. He likes her as she is, unconditionally. She doesn't have to try and impress him, he's already impressed. Knowing that you are loved for who you are lets you relax and let your guard down. It lets you be honest without fear of rejection, and frankly, it feels great.

1. Make a list of the special days that you celebrate together, such as the day you met, a monthly or yearly anniversary date, or even the anniversary of a special date from your past. On these days make a point to spend some time quality time together. Cook a special meal. Buy him a card, write a short letter and let him know that you didn't forget.
2. Toast each other when you sit down to dinner. It doesn't need to be over bubbly or wine, but even a glass of water or iced tea. Tell him something you love about him and then drink to it!
3. Let your spontaneous side show through. Taking someone for granted can be the result of getting stuck in a bad routine. Break the routine by meeting him after work if that is something you don't normally do. Allow for more romance in your life.
4. Take pictures every day. Don't save the camera for holidays and special occasions. Create a visual scrapbook of your everyday lives together. Better still, set the timer and pose together. You will both appreciate the warmth of the moment when you see these snapshots in an album down the road.
5. Set something aside for him every day. It might be a magazine article you read during your commute, a link to a website you came across, or even a story you heard at the office water cooler. He will appreciate that you took a moment to think of him during the course of your day.
6. Do something thoughtful for him every day. Maybe its making a cup of hot cocoa in the morning, sticking a surprise note in his brief case, or leaving a chocolate 'kiss' on his night stand before bedtime. Everyone loves a romantic surprise.
7. Be generous with your compliments. It's always easier to practice flattery at the start of a relationship, but......

Romance will only last through the initial crush of the relationship. After that you and your partner will start taking each other for granted, right? It does not have to be this way. There are many relationships where romance is alive and well. I am in such a relationship, and you can be as well.

We can spend most of our lives on trivial issues. But Jesus Christ reminds us what really matters and what we really need. Our greatest felt needs are to be loved, forgiven, whole and alive. Do you feel compelled to somehow respond to Jesus’ death on the cross?  Do you feel compelled to enter deeper into the experience of Christ’s forgiveness?

That feeling is no accident. It is a divine appointment.

Love. It's what we all want. To be loved is the most amazing thing that can happen to you.

But not just love - unconditional love, pure love. Do you wonder if anyone can love you as you truly are? Why is pure love so hard to find? Maybe it's because we keep looking in all the wrong places.Maybe you have looked for love in your family. You have tried your whole life to please them and make them happy. But it was never enough.

Maybe you have looked for love in a physical relationship. You tell yourself, "If I share my body, I will feel loved." But you never do.

Maybe you have looked for love in popularity. "If everyone knows me, then I will feel loved and accepted." But that's a game you can't always win, and when you do, you are still lonely.

Where can you go to feel completely accepted? Where can you look to find unconditional love?

There is only one place where love never disappoints. The picture of pure love is found in God. God is love. But how can you know God loves you? How can you see it?

Through Jesus Christ, we see love at its purest. Jesus said, "Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends" (John 15:13). The picture of pure, passionate love is caught in the frame of Jesus loving you while hanging on the cross.