As a follow up to my sister’s post yesterday, Love, Loss and Found, I must say that growth comes from vulnerability and I have always been so inspired as painful as it often is, by Tracie’s honesty and ability to speak and live in the truth. With that being said, I want to share thoughts today on love and relationships as Valentine’s Day approaches.

Over the years, Tracie and I have had sisterly battles over relationships and love and as my older sis, she has taught me as the unknown author said, “Love yourself enough to never lower your standards for anyone.” I still recall at 18 years old, my first major heartbreak and Tracie saying, “Come on now? Really? Get it together, YOU are worth so much more than that!”Seeing how pathetic and ridiculous I was through my sister’s lens, and now as a Menopausebarbee, over the years, I have come to value her insights and wisdom even more.

Tracie has been a rock and sounding board for me and many of my friends as she has lived abroad for nearly as many years as she lived stateside, and whether she is in a relationship or single, she has always managed to be her own Valentine and be JUST FINE. We talk daily about what women do in the name of love. We have concluded that unfortunately, many women as cliche as it sounds, don’t know how to love themselves. They never learned how to pamper themselves, take time for themselves and again ask the question, would they really ever date their self? For those questioning their predicament, I share Meryn Bane’s quote, “To Love Yourself is the beginning of a lifelong love affair.

“Yesterday, after my morning routine of getting my daughter off to school and dreading my trip to the gym, which I didn’t have time for, but had to make time for, I went to my laundry room in search of workout socks and starred at the mashed pile of mismatched footsies stacked on my dryer. I chuckled thinking at one point and time, this pile all started as a pair, they went into the wash cycle together and just like some mates in real life, one got lost along the way.

As Valentines Day approaches, the day we celebrate love, many of you reading this post may be in transition in your personal relationships, divorced, widowed, single, living with a mismatched sock, or waiting for your lost sock to return, but just remember Bane’s quote on the most important love affair- with YOURSELF!

My favorite DJ, Hitman Craig King will confirm, every time we party, he has to play my theme song, Just Fine!

Now pump up the volume and be as Mary J. Blige says be Just Fine!We are! Happy Valentine’s Day from the Menopausebarbees!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6ZjBPXSmnE&feature=kp