Valentine’s Day is wonderful when you’re newly in love. It is also wonderful when you are with an attentive partner. But when you are alone, or with a partner with whom things are rocky, Valentine’s Day can be a challenge. What can you do to feel a little better?
Here are some suggestions:
• Forgive yourself for not being perfect. Perfection is an ideal. Lives tend to be not ideal and often messy.
• Forgive your partner for not being perfect.
• Forgive yourself for living a life that is not perfect.
• Make a list of at least 3 things that are going well for you. Are you blessed with good health? With a steady job? With a nice place to live? With enough money to feed yourself every day? Write it down.
• If you can’t share Valentine’s Day with a loved one, make it a day for self-care and self-love. Bring beauty into your life, for example buy yourself beautiful flowers.
• Be kind to others. There are many out there who are feeling low today—either because Valentine’s Day reminds them of their loneliness, or, because they are living in deprived or stressful conditions. Remember: you can make someone else’s day with a smile or a friendly word—or both. It’s easy to say something nice and appreciative. We all can make someone else feel better.
Let’s make Valentine’s Day a day to look forward to. Let’s make it a day to remember love in all its shapes and forms: love for other, love for self, parental love, the love of a child, romantic love, platonic love, the love of friendship, the care for others. Gestures matter, regardless of their size.
© Eva Ruland, February 2015
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