With January saying goodbye, here comes February, a month that people around the world associate with love, romance, candlelight, flowers and the sound of sweet nothings. We even have a day dedicated to celebrating all the love in our lives – Valentine’s Day.

So where it all did started?

Valentine’s Day has its roots in an ancient (and rather risqué) Roman tradition called Lupercalia where  annually on February 15, young men stripped to their birthday suits and ran around spanking young maidens (gently) in order to boost their fertility.

You heard it right, these pagan antics remained wildly popular even after Constantine declared Christianity the official religion of the Roman Empire. Later, Lupercalia was absorbed into Christian tradition, transforming into Saint Valentine, the wayward saint who performed illegal marriages under the Roman Emperor Claudias II. For his digression, Saint Valentine was executed on February 14, and today, sweethearts around the world commemorate Saint Valentine on this day.

What people are doing on this day vary from country to country for instance lovers in the United States go all out in displaying their fondness for each other: Every year, Americans spend on average a sweet 20 billion dollars on chocolates, dinners, flowers and jewellery.

In South Korea the tradition is for men to be pampered on Valentine’s Day, women buy chocolates for their male partners, family members and co-workers as a token of affection and appreciation.

And for us in the UK, many of us get seriously romantic on Valentine’s Day, arranging candle light dinner dates, exchanging gifts, and buying flowers, chocolates and expensive jewellery.

For anyone who is single, Finland seems the place to be. You don’t have to worry about feeling left out of the festivities because in this country it’s all about celebrating with your friends. The day is even called ‘Friend’s Day’ in Finnish, not Valentine’s. The official flower is the pink rose, but mates are happy to receive gifts, cards or candy, too.

Although receiving the above mentioned gifts are a nice gesture, here are three Free Valentine gifts that most couples and single people desire:

  1. The gift of Love.

Love is the exquisite healer present in all of us, it is the spark that ignites the light in us all, and it is the energy that transforms any emotional baggage we have continued to carry, our outdated and outmoded perspectives, and any other attachment that keeps us bound to the past into seeds for meaningful living.

When our heart is awakened, the light it radiates transmutes any dark negative energy we haves stored within us into powerful life changing lessons that unleash the true power of the infinite wisdom of love. Make the choice to say “yes!” to love yourself as you are, another person, place, condition or experience, to accepting love to guide and fill your life with infinite joy.

  1. The Gift of Gratitude

No situation in life is beyond the act of gratitude. Many people hold on to their past traumas, fears, and pain, this way of being not only is damaging for your body-mind, but it is also the biggest lock you can put to your loving heart. Your heart’s compassion and its ability to love the unlovable is the greatest treasure you carry with you. You have the power to attract all that which you desire, open up closed doors, and mend broken relationships.

Whether you are single or not, chose this Valentine to be grateful, to say with a grateful heart“ I Love you and thank you” to anyone who may have harmed you, to dates that went wrong, and to partners that have left you to pursue their hearts desires.

If you are going on a date, be grateful that you have one, that you are alive and have this opportunity to express your highest expression of yourself.

  1. The Gift of Honesty

For many of us, speaking our truth is one of the hardest hurdle to overcome. No one wants to go on a date with someone who lies, frankly, even if that person is you, your inner being does not like when you exaggerate, lie, or hold back your truth.

If you are on a date because you feel alone, say so, the other person will much prefer to listen to your honest self than the one who likes to disguise the loneliness you may feel inside. If you are on a Valentines date because you want one off sexual encounter with someone you have been dreaming about, communicate that openly and with confidence. We are all animal in our nature, sex is a greatest expression of who we are and of our love. And if you are in a long term relationship, then make sure you give your loved ones the gift of truth no matter what that may be for you.

In my professional career I have coached hundreds of couples on various relationship issues, one of the most common threads that lead to relationship breakdown is the illusion of what love is and it is not, not being grateful to your partner, and concealing the truth.

People often assume that love I support without challenge, that they need to be grateful only on the good things that their partner is doing, and do not want to speak their truth from the fear of hurting the other person. This is an unfortunate reasoning process. When we behave this way we increase the negative energy in the relationship, we forget about the person we fell in love with, and start to fill our now moment with this destructive energy and create a future moment with a similar type of damaging energy.

Few months ago I released my latest book called #Loneliness, it explores the fierce scientific, psychological and spiritual impact of loneliness in every layer of our society-in business, society, education, healthcare, elderly, family, relationship and in ourselves– a problem that has become an ironic epidemic in a world that is more interconnected than ever before.

Don’t forget to download your FREE chapter to help you feel more connected, learn how to embrace both challenge and support in your life, and create a love infused conscious relationship with yourself, your partner, family, friends, clients, and everyone you encounter in your daily life.

Whether you are single or in a relationship, decide this Valentine to apply the above three birth given Gifts and make someone’s Valentine a day their heart will always remember.

May you have love, gratitude, and truth infused Valentine.

Love and Wisdom

Tony J. Selimi

P.S. If you are ready to attract the right person and do not know how or are in a relationship that is challenging but do not what to do then book a two hour clarity coaching consultation and find out the root cause of your relationship issues, what prevents you from being in a love infused conscious relationship, and what you can do to have an epic 2017, accelerate your personal, professional and business growth.