The Bright Side of Valentine’s Day

A Valentine from Allen Klein!

In the movie, Monty Python’s Life of Brian, and later in the Broadway musical Spamolot, we are advised, with a light-hearted song, to “always look on the bright side of life.” You may recall at the closing ceremony for the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, England, an estimated 750 million people watched as the composer of the song, Eric Idle, sang it accompanied by, among other things, nuns on roller-skates, Roman soldiers, and Indian Bollywood dancers.

Behind this seemingly frivolous and cheerful tune, is perhaps, a deeper message telling us that we have a choice how we view life’s experiences. It is always up to us whether we look on the bright side or the dark side.

Whether we see the glass as half-full or half-empty, whether we let someone else’s gloomy outlook drag us down, whether we choose to have a great day or not, is a matter of choice. Every millisecond of the day, whether we realize it or not, we are deciding to be positive or negative about what life has handed us.

I’m a firm believer in the power of words to change our life. Whether it be in the form of affirmations, prayers, or quotations, words can encourage us to do what all those folks at the Olympics were singing about…to always look on the bright side of life.

We usually remember to celebrate a birthday, a holiday, or a special anniversary. But we frequently forget that everyday is special and a time to celebrate.

We can celebrate the glory of the sun rising, or a spectacular sunset, or a heavy rain, or snow covered field. We can celebrate the beauty of a flower, the smile of a child, or the song of a bird. But we need to also not forget to celebrate and honor the work we do, our own unique gifts, or the special people in our life.

Even the smallest moments in life are cause for a celebration… from the clarity of a perfect autumn day to the challenge of changing a diaper. There is no shortage of things to delight in and embrace in this world.

Live your life to the fullest. Make every day a special day. Always look on the bright side of life.

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Several years ago, I had cataract surgery. The 15-minute surgery is miraculous since I had worn glasses since kindergarten and only need them now for reading or computer work. The one negative thing about having the operation, and it is very minor, is that sometimes there are light refractions in my left eye when I’m driving at night or in a room with very strong lighting. It used to annoy me but now I take it as a reminder that each and every one of us is a beam of light and love in this world.

To remind us of that, here, for Valentine’s Day, are a some quotations about love taken from Always Look on The Bright Side: Celebrating Each Day to the Fullest.

“In the coldest February, as in every other month in every other year, the best thing to hold on to in this world is each other.”—Linda Ellerbee

“One of the oldest human needs is having someone to wonder where you are when you don’t come home at night.” —Margaret Mead

“In love the paradox occurs that two beings become one and yet remain two.” —Erich Fromm

“Love is composed of a single soul inhabiting two bodies.” —Aristotle

“For it was not into my ear you whispered, but into my heart. It was not my lips you kissed, but my soul.” —Judy Garland

“Love is to the heart what the summer is to the farmer’s year. It brings to harvest all the loveliest flowers of the soul.” —Billy Graham

“Sometimes the heart sees what is invisible to the eye.”

—H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

“Love is like an hourglass, with the heart filling up as the brain empties.”

—Jules Renard

“The heart knows things that the mind will never know.”

—Carl Hammerschlag

“The moment you have in your heart this extraordinary thing called love and feel the depth, the delight, the ecstasy of it, you will discover that for you the world is transformed.” —J. Krishnamurti

“Love doesn’t make the world go round. Love is what makes the ride worthwhile.” —Franklin P. Jones

“Treasure the love you receive above all. It will survive long after your good health has vanished.” —Og Mandino

“What the world really needs is more love and less paperwork.”

—Pearl Bailey

“The cure for all ills and wrongs, the cares, the sorrows and the crimes of humanity, all lie in the one word “love.” It is the divine vitality that everywhere produces and restores life.” —Lydia Maria Child

“Love is the immortal flow of energy that nourishes, extends and preserves. Its eternal goal is life.” —Smiley Blanton

“Where there is love there is life.” —Mahatma Gandhi

“Life without love is like a tree without blossoms or fruit.” —Kahlil Gibran

“We are all born for love. It is the principle of existence, and its only end.”

—Benjamin Disraeli

“The supreme happiness in life is the conviction that we are loved.”

—Victor Hugo

“Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength; loving someone deeply gives you courage.” —Lao-Tzu

“Love conquers all things except poverty and a toothache.” —Mae West

“It was always the power of love that pulled us through. And it was the power of laughter that kept us from falling apart.” —Steve Rizzo

“You were born together, and together you shall be forevermore…. But let there be spaces in your togetherness. And let the winds of the heavens dance between you.” —Kahlil Gibran

“A lady of forty-seven who has been married twenty-seven years and has six children knows what love really is and once described it for me like this: “Love is what you’ve been through with somebody.” —James Thurber

“Love is an act of endless forgiveness, a tender look which becomes a habit.” —Peter Ustinov

“Perfect love is rare indeed—for to be a lover will require that you continually have the subtlety of the very wise, the flexibility of the child, the sensitivity of the artist, the understanding of the philosopher, the acceptance of the saint, the tolerance of the scholar and the fortitude of the certain.”

—Leo Buscaglia

“Love is not counting the years; it’s making the years count.” —Anonymous

“Love has nothing to do with what you are expecting to get, it’s what you are expected to give—which is everything.” —Anonymous

“You will find as you look back upon your life that the moments when you have truly lived are the moments when you have done things in the spirit of love.” —Henry Drummond

“Those who love deeply never grow old; they may die of old age, but they die young.” —Sir Arthur Wing Pinero

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Excerpt from the book ” Always Look on the Bright Side” By Allen Klein -Viva Editions