Don’t Just Be a Val, Be a Pal!

It’s Valentine again and as always, it’s pretty exciting. The frenzy to give great gifts and just do something great, something out of the ordinary for our partner/spouse is so palpable that one could almost reach out and touch it.

I love the Valentine’s period – the excitement, the expectancy in the air, the intentionality of it all. We see people who are ordinarily clueless virtually every other day of the year suddenly becoming deliberate about getting or doing something special for their spouse/partner.

Oh, how I wish that every day could be Valentine’s Day! How I wish that, beyond Valentine’s Day, everybody would go out of their way to deliberately make their partner/spouse feel special and loved. How I wish that, as many of us do on or towards Valentine’s Day, we would all selflessly put our spouse’s/partner’s needs and desires ahead of ours on a daily (as we like to say in Lagos). How I wish that this selfless giving of our best – time, effort, resources and everything at our disposal, would continue far beyond Valentine’s Day. How I wish it would become a daily pattern and not just stay an annual exercise, because, whether we like it or not, indeed whether we know it or not, relationships and I daresay, marriages, thrive on this intentionality of selfless giving.

Can we just give it a shot this year? And yes, we can start with baby steps. Please feel free to start with a big bang – if you’re a big bang approach kind of person – and take it up daily. However, you’re also free to take it one step at a time, starting with public holidays, his/her birthday, anniversaries, Easter, Christmas, New Year’s and so on.

Can you just imagine how sweet your marriage/relationship would be if you and your spouse/partner were to both be intentional about putting the other person first? There would be fewer altercations, your marriage/relationship would be a lot sweeter, you would be a happier and more fulfilled person and, consequently, be more productive and effective in every aspect of your life.

So this year, don’t just strive to be the best val ever, but also your spouse’s/partner’s best pal ever.

I think it’s a worthwhile cause to commit to, don’t you?

Permit me therefore to wish you not just a happy Val’s day, but indeed, also a happy Pal’s year.

Cheers!