I'm just going to say it, Valentine's Day SUCKS if you're single.
There are exceptions, some people couldn't care less about Valentine's Day, they feel it's a made-up "Hallmark Holiday", less about professing your love and more about retailers making their pockets grow deeper.
Valentine's Day sales this year are reaching an estimated $19.6 billion dollars. So the holiday isn't getting any less popular, that's for sure.
I've spent many a V-Day pumping myself up, "It's just another day, no biggie, I can buy myself candy and flowers, I don't need a dude for that!"
And all that is true.
But we're only human. It's like the little kid who's watching his peer enjoying an ice cream cone and a hot summer day, it makes him want an ice cream, too. It's only natural we feel that sting of wanting to be someone's special someone, even if it's just a silly holiday.
As soon as we hop on social media we get bombarded by Valentine's festivities. Our Facebook newsfeed becomes infiltrated by couples tagging each other with, "Oh baby, they're BEEYOOTIFUL!" captions underneath photos of lavish flower bouquets, or happy couples on a date.
I've been the girl that's had to sign for the dozen red roses, leaving them on the counter for the girl meant to receive them, having to tell people, "they're not mine" when someone comments on how beautiful they are. Humbug!
I'll admit its gotten better since I became a mother. Now I take each holiday and gear it towards my daughter, which makes it more joyful.
But it still makes me a little sad, after all, I'm a woman and we are emotional creatures.
I've been habitually single most of my adult life, I've never had more than one boyfriend in a year, and often I go years in between relationships so I know solitude, I AM solitude.
So, what's my big advice on how to cope on a day where it seems everyone has someone and something related to romance?
Well, you deal with it.
You deal with it in any way that prevents you from wallowing in your sorrows and that promotes you feeling good.
Whether it's ordering take-out, renting a hotel room and enjoying the hot tub, drinking a bottle of fancy wine, or planning a fun night out with friends, it's important to make Valentine's Day about loving yourself, after all, the saying is true, above all else, you must first love yourself.
Your worth, your value, isn't in what you're receiving or not receiving on a made up holiday.
And if you listen to the crowd, you'll hear the familiar murmuring of lovebirds annoyed because the only time they are gifted anything romantic is on this one day a year.
Puts it into perspective a little bit, that things aren't as they always as romanticized as they seem.
Not to mention, the people that complain, "I don't want to seem ungrateful, but he knows I'd rather have a new hardback book rather than a dozen flowers that are going to be dead within a week."
Do we want a common, Valentine's Day themed gift such as a life sized teddy bear, or something picked out that is geared towards our personality? I know I'd rather have a gift that is suited to what I enjoy verses a gift that fits with the Valentine's Day scheme, such as a 5ft card that I'm going to look at once.
Love can be beautiful, and it can be brutal. Instead of watching a sappy love story, maybe switch it up and watch, "The Terminator". Take Valentine's Day and make it your bitch. Plan something that makes you happy, whether it's a night on the town or a night at home, don't pity yourself and for the love of everything don't text him/her! If they had wanted to talk to you they would've done it before Valentine's Day!
Wishing you a very happy and fun Valentine's Day!