Every year, we have a chance to express ourselves to those we love in a very personal and meaningful way. Here are some of the thoughts of the great lovers throughout history.

How Do I Love Thee
How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
I love thee to the depth and breadth and height
My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight
For the ends of Being and ideal Grace.
I love thee to the level of everyday’s
Most quiet need, by sun and candle-light.
I love thee freely, as men strive for Right;
I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise.
I love thee with a love I seemed to lose
With my lost saints, — I love thee with the breath,
Smiles, tears, of all my life! — and, if God choose,
I shall but love thee better after death.
by Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806-1861)

Oh, if it be to choose and call thee mine, love, thou art every day my Valentine! 
~Thomas Hood

Loving is not just looking at each other, it’s looking in the same direction. 
~Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, Wind, Sand, and Stars, 1939

Gravitation is not responsible for people falling in love. 
~Albert Einstein

For you see, each day I love you more Today more than yesterday and less than tomorrow.
~Rosemonde Gerard

Love is a symbol of eternity.  It wipes out all sense of time, destroying all memory of a beginning and all fear of an end.
~Author Unknown

You have to walk carefully in the beginning of love; the running across fields into
your lover’s arms can only come later when you’re sure they won’t laugh if you trip. 
 ~Jonathan Carroll, “Outside the Dog Museum”

Love is a smoke made with the fume of sighs. 
~William Shakespeare

kisses are a better fate than wisdom.
~e.e. cummings
 
Who, being loved, is poor? 
~Oscar Wilde
 
Grow old with me!  The best is yet to be. 
~Robert Browning

We loved with a love that was more than love. 
~Edgar Allan Poe
 
Love is a game that two can play and both win. 
~Eva Gabor

The heart has its reasons that reason knows nothing of. 
~Blaise Pascal, Pensées, 1670

At the touch of love, everyone becomes a poet. 
~Plato

Soul meets soul on lovers’ lips. 
~Percy Bysshe Shelley

How did it happen that their lips came together?  How does it happen that birds sing, that snow melts, that the rose unfolds,
that the dawn whitens behind the stark shapes of trees on the quivering summit of the hill?  A kiss, and all was said. 
~Victor Hugo

Love is an irresistible desire to be irresistibly desired. 
~Robert Frost

Love is the poetry of the senses. 
~Honoré de Balzac

As soon go kindle fire with snow, as seek to quench the fire of love with words. 
~William Shakespeare

Love is a canvas furnished by Nature and embroidered by imagination. 
~Voltaire

It’s easy to see how being happy, upbeat and optimistic can make you fun to be around and a good friend, but did you know that a positive attitude can actually help you to be healthier?

In a recent article published by the Mayo Clinic, a clear relationship is drawn between positive mental attitude and numerous health benefits, including:

• Increased life span
• Lower rates of depression
• Lower levels of distress
• Greater resistance to the common cold
• Better psychological and physical well-being
• Reduced risk of death from cardiovascular disease
• Better coping skills during hardships and times of stress

One explanation for these benefits is that having a positive outlook helps you to cope better with stressful situations, which reduces the harmful effects of stress on your body. Another is that positive and optimistic people tend to live healthier lifestyles — they get more physical activity, follow a healthier diet, and have reduced rates of smoking and alcohol consumption.

Whatever the reason, positive people seem to live longer, healthier lives – try it and see how it works for you! Here are some tips on how to be more positive:

If your self-talk tends to be more negative, it doesn’t mean you’re doomed to an unhappy or unhealthy life. You can learn to transform negative thinking into positive thinking. The process is simple, but it takes time and practice — you’re creating a new habit, after all. Here are some ways to think and behave in a more positive way:

• Check yourself. Periodically during the day, stop and evaluate what you’re thinking. If you find that your thoughts are too negative, try to find a way to put a positive spin on them.
• Be open to humor. Give yourself permission to smile or laugh, especially during difficult times. See humor in everyday occurrences. When you can laugh at life, you feel less stressed.
• Follow a healthy lifestyle. Exercise at least three times a week to positively affect mood and reduce stress. Follow a healthy diet to fuel your mind and body. And learn to manage stress.
• Surround yourself with positive people. Make sure those in your life are positive, supportive people you can depend on to give helpful advice and feedback. Negative people, those who believe they have no power over their lives, may increase your stress level and may make you doubt your ability to manage stress in healthy ways.
• Practice positive self-talk. Start by following one simple rule: Don’t say anything to yourself that you wouldn’t say to someone else. Be gentle and encouraging with yourself. If a negative thought enters your mind, evaluate it rationally and respond with affirmations of what is good about yourself.

By recognizing the patterns of positive thinking and choosing to be upbeat and optimistic, you enhance the likelihood of health and happiness – spread the word!

Dear Patient and Friend,

There’s a reason why America spends more money on health care than any other country, yet the overall health in the US lags behind dozens of other developed countries.

At present, America ranks 37^th in overall health, a surprisingly low position, especially in spite of the massive expenditures pointed toward treating disease – and that may turn out to be what’s wrong with the system, that too much effort is directed toward treating disease, and not enough toward preventing disease, or even better, developing healthy lifestyle habits so the likelihood of disease is greatly reduced.

It would be oversimplified to say that all disease could be stopped by making better lifestyle decisions, but some scientists say that 70% of all heart disease, diabetes, cancer and other life-threatening illnesses could be avoided or reduced if people would simply accept the responsibility to make better lifestyle choices and improve the quality of their health and wellness decision-making.

We’re not talking about extreme changes like running ten miles everyday or eliminating all your favorite foods. Something as simple as drinking more water, taking a walk for a half hour three times a week, or taking some vitamin supplements could produce significant and beneficial shifts in blood chemistry, physical fitness and even attitude.

In fact, many researchers believe that regular exercise, even moderately applied, can be the best of all the stress reducers, with little or no side effects that could accompany chemical stress management through drugs.

Look at your own lifestyle, and consider choosing two or three small habits you could change or adopt – eating fresh wholesome foods in reasonable quantities, sleeping better, simple exercises like stretching, walking or yoga, limiting empty calories like sweets, especially early in the day or right before bed, including massage, or meditation, or being more diligent about keeping your spine and nerve system healthy – many people need only minor changes, while others need more of an overhaul, but one thing is for sure – taking the responsibility to make such decisions and choices will come back to reward you in a greater probability of good health and longer life.

The odds are in your favor, if you’ll choose healthy habits – it’s up to you to make such decisions, so ask us for some advice on how and where to start, and you’ll be glad you did.