Okay, let’s get right to the point. You should write love letters because it
will bring you (and your true love) many lifelong rewards. Besides, it’s not that hard, especially with my
simple love letter WRITE-ing technique. But will you?
Will you write a love letter today, another next week and another the week after? Are you willing to make writing love letters a new tradition?
Don’t answer that. We'll come back to that question in a moment.
Tra∙di∙tion - an inherited, established, or customary pattern of thought, action, or behavior. ~ Webster
Assuming Webster’s correct, you’ll engage in a pattern of thought, action or behavior if that thought, action or behavior is one of three things:
- Inherited.
- Established.
- Customary.
We’re talking about writing love letters, so unless I’m completely in the dark, it’s not a custom – at least here in the good old USA. So we can scratch that one off our list, because you’ll never get started if you wait for it to become customary.
Now I’m going to make a wild guess. You did
not inherit this tradition either. I’m right, aren’t I? After all, this article is titled, “How to make writing love letters a tradition.” Since make = establish and since you're still reading this, clearly you want to learn how to establish this tradition? Hold tight, we're getting there.
Although you did not inherit this tradition, you
may hand it down to your children as part of their inheritance one day. So let’s explore that idea a bit.
A tradition that’s inherited is witnessed, not taught with empty words, but caught from the people you respect most – those who routinely impart a standard of living through words and actions. They communicate with behavior. It’s education by example.
Good behavior is caught, not taught.
What kind of behavior will your children catch?
When you inherit a tradition like writing love letters, you’re gifted with wisdom, lessons of vision, persistence, and leadership; spared the longsuffering, failure, hardship and trials endured by those who came before you; and granted encouragement, counsel and accountability from the tradition’s founders (perhaps you one day) and of course, you’re endowed with all its rewards.
Don't you wish you inherited this tradition? (Yes!?) Then why not become that person?
Become the person who gifts wisdom, spares their progeny of hardship, grants them good counsel and encouragement, endows them with rewards that last a lifetime (and beyond). Establish this tradition (
writing love letters) and leave it to your children as part of your legacy and part of their inheritance. Your life is already full of traditions. What’s one more, especially one of such great value?
What is a love letter tradition?
I’ll tell you what it’s not! Writing one lonely love letter is no tradition. It’s a whim, not a pattern. Writing two love letters is a little better, but still not a tradition. Writing love letters every Sunday for the rest of your life – now that’s a tradition.
Writing
romantic love letters is the one the finest ways to get (and stay) committed to love and romance. That's a worthy cause, don't you agree?
Embrace this tradition, here’s how:Step # 1 - Visualize the end result. Just imagine... decades from now you stumble upon an old chest up in the attic under lock and key. You tilt it open, sit back on your heals and think back as a small tear runs down your cheek. That old chest is your legacy. It’s filled with your love and your life recorded in thousands of love letters. You don’t have to read a single letter to know how great it was. You lived it. But you can’t help yourself, so you reach inside and pull one out. After hours of reading, remembering, laughing and crying you head downstairs, click off the light, shut the door behind you and smile – a smile that can’t be wiped off your face no matter what, because you have no regrets.
Step # 2 - Understand the love letter benefits. It's amazing that such a simple gesture as writing a love letter could have such a profound impact on you and your true love. Not to mention on all those watching you, observing your commitment to love (family, friends, neighbors, kids). If writing a love letter truly could produce this list of benefits, then why not invest just 5 minutes a week and bring back the lost art one letter at a time?
Step # 3 - Write down your love letter goals. There's something to be said for spontaneity. It creates excitement and thrills! You should definitely make a place for that in your life. But when faced with a challenge, setting goals and planning ahead is very wise. That is, if you plan on succeeding at whatever it is that you're facing. For instance, if you want to succeed at writing frequent love letters then I suggest you define some clear objectives, plan ahead and be diligent.
Step # 4 - Daily love letter inspiration from your journal. If you want to ensure this new tradition (writing love letters) sticks, perhaps you should build it into your daily routine. Even if you write weekly or monthly (I write weekly), devote some time each day to this tradition and it’ll be easier to maintain. Maybe first thing in the morning or the last thing you do before lights out, pull out your journal and jot down one thing you love about your sweetheart, one thing you can do better or one interesting (or new) thing you noticed. Just a few seconds each day and you'll more prepared when you sit down to write your next letter.
Step # 5 - Pick a day and a time.
Set aside a specific day of the week and time for writing and sharing your love letters. Pick Sunday afternoon, Friday night, or Saturday morning during breakfast. Pick whatever works best for you. Just pick a time you can repeat each week.
A couple more things
- Start simple (commit to 30 days), get a win under your belt and then go for another 30.
- Don’t be too hard on yourself. You’ll miss a day or a week now and then. But we all make mistakes and fail. Just start up again. Eventually it will become second nature. Trust me.
So back to that question: are you willing to make writing love letters a new tradition?
Labels: Advice, Ideas, Tips
