Love, and of every variety, including contentment and kindness is all we humans need!

Some of you may be lucky enough to have a loving partner but try not to despair if you don’t, because love, like sunshine, has the capacity to shine in many places.

And contentment is the younger sibling of love, which is often easier to attain, so we should try to collect it in much the same way as we might have once gathered seashells…

There is the love of your friends, or family, or from your ever-doting loyal pet.

The sound of children playing and laughing immediately evokes a smile.

It radiates too in our magnificent nature and wildlife, the stunning colours and scents of flowers, or the soul-nourishing sound of the songbird.

It can be found in acts of kindness, in helping those less fortunate than ourselves. The simple act of phoning an elderly friend fills more than just the reciprocates heart.

Love is the opposite emotion to pain, many of us know about pain too.

A few close friends know of my pain around this time of year, I feel seared with it – if I think too much about my many losses.

But love can ease emotional pain, and whilst it never fades, nor does love.

Whether it be St. Valentine’s Day or any other day of the year, we must be reminded that love is all we truly have, and we have the chance to spread and receive it, in every small way in which we can…