Valentines Day
January 27, 2012 by admin · Leave a Comment
Saint Valentines Day commonly known as Valentines Day is held worldwide on February 14th celebrating the love and affection between lovers and intimate companions. The origin of Valentines Day dates back to 496 AD and was established by Pope Gelasius in honour of the late Christian martyr Saint Valentine.
Traditionally lovers express their love for one another buy giving gifts such as flowers, chocolate and other more elaborate gifts. In the old days people would exchage hand written notes, which have now been replaced by cards or more recently, e-cards.
Traditional shopping for Valentines gifts can be quite laborious if you are not sure what to by for your loved one, but now there is the option to shop online which makes the process a lot easier and very interesting. There are simply thousands of gift ideas available through online stores that can cater for every taste imaginable. If you follow the link attached to this article you will see what I mean, there are so many romantic gift ideas, more than just chocolate or flowers.
Romantic Getaways
January 26, 2012 by admin · Leave a Comment
With Valentine’s Day just around the corner, what is a person to do? Call a florist? Get chocolate and lingerie? Book a last-minute flight for a tropical paradise?
While coaching people in performance development, I noticed that we humans tend to establish patterns. Dream ruts if you will. Get married on the beach in Hawaii. Vacation with the family at Disney. Take a break in Palm Springs or Costa Rica. Travel to a vogue destination during a summer or winter break. Go out to dinner and a movie on date night. Any of this sound familiar? We may create and sustain these dream ruts; yet that doesn’t mean that they sing our own unique and beautiful romantic song.
So how does a person get out of the rut and into the ideal? Well, how about using romance to create romance? Like most things development, it takes a bit of clarity and awareness of what is and is not valued by the people involved in order to do this. If you haven’t started the dialogue about what your loved one truly values romantically, this could be a good opportunity. I suggest sidestepping assumptions, and, if desired, make it fun and romantic. Rather like an adventure of getting to know your loved one in a new way, do this over the course of several days or weeks.
Get started by using as many 2-3 word descriptors of each of your perfect getaways as comes to mind. Include action-oriented verbs and capture as much as you can on a large piece of paper or a white board, audio or video recorder, or anything else that seems to work. You could include charades and various costumes. Tickling and eye rolling allowed as long as it’s in good fun and no one feels put down or demeaned: grin.
Then each person should select the top 5 descriptors that sing or best represent his or her perfect getaway.
Next, give compelling reasons, without interruption, about why the selected values are important. Be sure to have resources available: a computer to look up destinations, etc.
Decide by continuing steps 2 & 3 until consensus is reached about the top 5 descriptors that mutually describe the ideal romantic getaway. Each person should feel that the final 5 choices fully represent what he or she values without feeling coerced.
Once consensus is reached, then it is time to write the vision statement. The vision statement should be simple. The daring two of us passionately dream of the Seychelles or the Maldives this Valentine’s Day week to set the stage for romantic misadventures and unexpected fun. The values in this example are daring, being together, shared passionate dreaming, and having romantic misadventures and unexpected fun. Ask yourselves who is involved? What is the shared vision? What is the time frame? Why do both of you value it? What is the desired outcome? Remember that values should be driven by action-oriented and less subjective verbs. Also, be creative with the getaway location. Romance can be had just about anywhere if the mood is right and it’s not illegal: grin. Remember, it’s about the two of you and how you feel. No golden-plated doorknobs needed for sharing and receiving love from your beloved.
After you have your vision statement, which is what you want, then it is time to build your mission statement. If you did the work with the vision statement, the mission statement should be easier than the vision statement or almost equationlike. The mission statement is the how or container of what you want. It is meant to demonstrate the verbs in the vision statement. So, the mission of [the individuals involved] [time frame] is to [action verb and description] [how often] from [when to when] by [action-verb(s) and description(s) of action] to [where or what] [in what manner] until [what occurs]. For example, the mission of us daring two from 10-17 Feb 2012 is to celebrate our love by flying to the Seychelles and then the Maldives, dancing on beaches, climbing coconut trees, running wild through the forest, and climbing tall hills until we are exhausted yet overflowing with stories that immortalize our love.
Once you have agreement, then you know what you want and how you’re going to get it. After that, it’s a matter of assembling the bits needed.
The outcome could be anything from a tent in your backyard glowing with candles, incense, beautiful music, and a foot massage to a breathtaking nomadic riding adventure in Mongolia or Mihir Garh in Jodhpur, Rajasthan, India. The point is to create a platform for sharing, hearing, honoring, and celebrating what is deeply important to the love in your life!
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/6820921
Author: Deone Benninghoven
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January 15, 2012 by admin · Leave a Comment