Valentine’s Day can be a difficult day for many people.

Every Valentine’s Day the world fairly explodes with flowers, chocolate, and the colour pink. If love is abundant in your life, those trappings can be a joyful reminder. But for the lonely it can make for a long, difficult day.

For many people, Valentine ’s Day isn’t a celebration of love and romance at all. It’s salt, burning in the wounds of their loneliness. Some have suffered the heartache of a broken relationship or the death of a spouse. Others have never married and still feel the sting of that unrealised dream. And it’s not just the absence of romance that can be painful. Think of kids without a mum or dad who long to be loved by a forever family, or the elderly and unwell who spend their days all alone.

Love and connection are not fleeting emotions. They’re as vital to our health and well-being as the air we breathe.

So this Valentine’s Day, here are a few ways we might reach out to those who are struggling with loneliness:

  1. Consider giving them a box of chocolates or a card
  2. If appropriate, extend an invitation to a special dinner
  3. Give a call to someone you’ve been meaning to connect with, especially a widow or widower
  4. Write an email
  5. Pray for them

I can assure you that it won’t take much to lift a lonely person’s spirit, even if it’s only for a few minutes. You’d be surprised what difference small expressions of love can make.

However you choose to express it, I hope you might consider setting aside a few moments to let someone in a tough spot know they’re loved.

© 2013 Focus on the Family. All rights reserved. Used with permission. From the Daly Focus blog at jimdaly.focusonthefamily.com.

Jim Daly

Jim Daly is president of Focus on the Family and host of the daily broadcast, heard by more than 2.9 million listeners a week on more than 1,000 radio stations across the U.S. The show was honored as 2012 Program of the Year by the National Religious Broadcasters (NRB).

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