February is the month of love, a time when many hearts are filled with hope, expectations, and dreams. However, it is also an opportunity to reflect on the importance of protecting our own hearts, of treating them as the precious treasure they are.

Throughout life, we learn to love, to give ourselves sincerely, and to share our essence with others. But how often have we forgotten to love ourselves with the same devotion? Illusion, when not accompanied by awareness, can lead us to experiences that ultimately hurt us, because we let ourselves be guided by what we want to see and not by what truly is.

Playing with our hearts, placing all our expectations on someone without knowing their true intentions, or clinging to an idealized notion of love can distance us from our own reality. When we ignore the signs, when we cling to relationships that don't nourish us, or when we sacrifice our peace for the illusion of something unrequited, we end up hurting ourselves.

It's time to give our hearts the value they deserve. The most powerful love is the one that comes from within, the one that allows us to recognize our worth without needing anyone else's validation. Before getting carried away, we must learn to observe clearly, to ask ourselves if what we feel is based on genuine reality or on an emotional need that we are projecting onto someone else.

It's also essential to teach our children to recognize their own worth and to take care of their hearts. From a young age, we must instill in them the importance of loving themselves, setting healthy boundaries, and choosing relationships that enrich them rather than hurt them. If we give them the necessary tools to understand love from a healthy perspective, we can prevent them from growing up with false expectations and allow them to experience it in a more authentic and fulfilling way.

Celebrating love in February doesn't just mean sharing it with others, but also honoring our own hearts. It means learning to discern between the love that expands us and the love that limits us, between healthy illusions and those that lead us astray from our own well-being. It's learning to love ourselves so fiercely that we don't allow anyone to play with our most precious treasure.

This month, give yourself the gift of awareness, self-love, and the certainty that true love always begins with you. Before you give your heart away, make sure you're receiving love in equal measure. Because when you learn to value your own heart, you also teach others how to love you.

By:

Sheila Sandoval

sheila@sholbenmedia.com