ROSES, CHOCOLATES, OR CARDS?

Well, what’s it going to be this year? Will it be roses, chocolate, a card, jewelry, lingerie, a new car? We have been preconditioned to celebrate Valentine’s Day, and it all started with your kindergarten teacher! You remember the February classroom activity, right? She handed everyone a brown paper lunch bag and said to decorate it and put your name on it. Then she hung them up along the wall in the room at just the right height. Next came the card making or card buying exercise and decisions as to who got the “special card” from you. Delivery time was filled with nervous laughter and excitement as you put the cards into your classmate’s bags, then checked to see how your bag was filling up. At last, she’d give the go-ahead to open your bag and see who had given you the coveted card that said “Love” on it — not to mention the little candy treats. The only thing you could think about for the rest of the day was the little girl who put that card in your sack and how your life “would never be the same.”

I don’t want to burst your bubble, but I say pox on Valentine’s Day! I don’t want the secondhand guilt that is associated with this contrived celebration. I know that I should pause here and say that I know what you are thinking: This writer is the poster child for Curmudgeons International. I am not, but neither am I someone you would call a hopeless romantic.

If you make Valentine’s Day the only time you tell others how you feel about them, then you are the curmudgeon. You don’t want to be the fellow whose wife of 35 years complains to her pastor that he never says “I love you.” Then the husband responds, “I told you I loved you when we got married, and if that ever changes, I will let you know!”

When it comes down to it, we frequently fall into the routines of expectations. We simply do the things expected of us because it is expected we will. The problem with that is that expectation becomes like a duty that we must fulfill — there is no heart behind the action. I think the way to overcome living life out of a sense of duty is to become deliberate in living life out of delight. I think our Valentine’s Day cards ought to come all the time and at seemingly random times because we simply delight in that person. You could still give a gift or card on Feb. 14, but even better than that, why don’t you keep a box of cards and every time you have a loving thought about your “Valentine,” write a note and send the card — even if it’s August?

I believe we need to express our delight in the ones we love on a regular basis. I suspect it can only improve good relationships and begin healing struggling relationships.

But just so you know, this is not actually my own idea. It is a principle that has its root in the way God treats us as humans. Just think for a minute about the Old and New Testaments. They are in actuality a series of 66 “love letters” from God to humankind, which were written over many centuries to tell us about His love for man.

One of the key themes of the Bible is “God is love,” and that is not just a cold analytical statement. It really means God is so loving that He is the ultimate standard of love itself. Therefore, when we delight in expressing our love toward our wives not out of obligation, then we actually reflect the very delight God has for man. I think that is supremely better than buying my wife a dozen roses just because it’s the day I’m supposed to do it.

If anyone reading this is a kindergarten teacher, or has ever been one, I want to make the statement that the names of former kindergarten teachers and classmates have been omitted to protect myself. And please make my classmates put something nice in my bag.

Dr. Georg Couturier

My passions are being a dad, a husband, and a cardiologist. I enjoy the interaction with my patients and their families. I always strive to treat my patients exactly how I would want a physician to treat my mom or dad.

The Leesburg Area Chamber of Commerce presents:

The Leesburg Area Chamber of Commerce Presents:

Kick start that New Year’s Resolution by participating in the Business Wellness Challenge!!

Kick start that New Year’s Resolution by participating in the Business Wellness Challenge!!

$100 per person for Chamber members, $125 per person for nonChamber members. 5 person teams.

$100 per person for Chamber members, $125 per person for non-Chamber members. 5 person teams.

Your team could win prizes including:

Your team could win prizes including:

Five 1-year memberships at Leesburg Regional Medical Center Wellness Center ($2,200 value)

Massage a month for each member of the winning team by Tracy Zito, L.M.T. at Infinity Fitness & Medi Spa

• 1/2 page in Healthy Living Magazine for 3 months. Value of $4050.00 • Five 1-year memberships at Leesburg Regional Medical Center Wellness Center ($2,200 value)

Five spa and gym packages from Infinity Fitness & Medi Spa

• Massage a month for each member of the winning team by Tracy Zito, L.M.T. at Infinity Fitness & Medi Spa

• Five spa and gym packages from Infinity Fitness & Medi Spa

• Two boarding passes for each member of the winning team on Victory Casino Cruises from Port Canaveral

Two boarding passes for each member of the winning team on Victory Casino Cruises from Port Canaveral

And many more!!

• And many more!!

Challenge runs February 18 – May 6, 2014

• Challenge runs February 18 – May 6, 2014

A Healthy Business is a Healthy Community