Probably your folks, and if you’re lucky, a few real friends. Could be a mate or someone you date. Or, the love might be between you, your hair and your hair stylist; like Jennifer Aniston, her mane and the one man who doesn’t leave her, coiffeur Chris McMillan.
Who else?
As you may know from an interview that doesn’t die because YouTube is forever, I love the other guy. That other guy means my clients. My vendors. The people partnered up with me on ventures. My staff.
It may be lax or loose to say, but I love the people who are in the game with me.
In the middle of Los Angeles, I could choose to feel otherwise. Everyone here calls each other “love,” “darling,” and “dear.” If that is a lie, well I don’t mind. It’s a pretty lie. A lie with good intention, at least that’s how I choose to ingest it.
Is it better to be suspicious, avaricious or indifferent? Is that the way you are now approaching your goals, and those of us who are on the journey with you?
For me, it all started with a man and a horse
I was riding through the forest outside Durango, Colorado with TO&O (that would be Molly Jo – The One and Only child) in pouring rain for seven days. Mature men who served in war, been Olympians and now had jobs with titles like, “head of cardio-thoracic surgery,” were our fellow campers.
One man broke down. The wet, the sliding terrain, and the cold that would not leave our bones finally overwhelmed him. What he didn’t know that Molly Jo did, is that if you took care of your horse, the horse would take care of you. This is especially important to remember when you lose your way, or in this case, a clear head. She had ridden since she was a year and one-half, and had been carried safely across tall fences when all she had exchanged was carrots and kisses. Of course in those days, her parents picked up the barn fees – but the horse didn’t know that.
They say there is nothing like the love between a girl and her horse, but maybe the rest of us can try.
How else can you persevere?
How else can you persevere under the conditions you find yourself in? The days when life was all cupcakes and T-ball games or ponies and cotillion are gone. The likelihood you will clear all the fences in record-shattering time, build the next mashable, become the next James Franco, or ascend to whatever your aiming at, is by no means guaranteed.
Could love be the element that is missing, if you have tried and perhaps failed to establish the kinds of relationships that are required for the long and difficult journey to the destination you have decided to call success? How would your fortune change, if you included a bit of your heart in the exchanges and interactions that come in the course of your day?
So don’t fret this Valentine’s Day if you don’t have that special someone to love. Love the ones you’re with.
If you get on it today, there’s still time to send out some handwritten cards. Plenty of people could use a little love, or at least an acknowledgment of who they are or have been in your career.
At the very least, you’ll make them smile when it’s your name they see on the one card they probably get in the actual mail. That singular moment of positive reflection on who you are is worth working for, personal brand. Coke spends billions for exactly that.
Now, who’s your Valentine?
