Why is it that our generation feels the need to make such a big deal over February 14th?
The past three years, I’ve had a boyfriend, and I spent so much time effort and energy stressing out over this one day. This year I’m single, and I was extremely stressed out and sad about it. But I took a couple minutes, I put on my positive pants, and I thought of a few reasons why I’m happy about being single on this dreaded holiday,
1. Avoiding Unrealistic Expectations
There are so many unrealistic expectations when it comes to Valentine's Day. If you're a guy, you're expected to do all of these magnificent "Instagram worthy" things for your girlfriend. If you're a girl, you're expecting a giant teddy bear or a mountain of chocolate, just like the one's shown on the viral twitter pictures. Valentine's Day isn't about material items, it's about recognizing that you're grateful to have that special someone in your life, but our generation in particular sets up these unrealistic expectations for our partners. If you're riding solo, you don't have to worry about this at all!
2. You Don't Have To Spend Money You Don't Have
Okay, now this one is my favorite. I'm broke as a joke, as I'm assuming most of you college kids are, and I don't really have extra cash laying around. To go along with the unrealistic expectations, let's talk about how ridiculously expensive this holiday is?! I mean come on!! Who the hell can afford to drop $20 dollars on a mediocre box of chocolate. Unless I can use my meal swipes (which I can't, I've asked) it's gonna be a no-go for me.
3. You Can Get The Same Candy, Just Half Priced
Clearly, money is a big thing about this holiday. But if you take a chocolate loving broke college girl, she finds her ways around things. Us single folk, can still enjoy the not-so-great candies, we just don't need to spend a million dollars on it. If you're a smart single guy or gal, you'll wait a few days for the boxes of chocolate to go on sale. That's when you can satisfy cravings and not make your wallet want to cry. Sorry (not sorry) people in relationships.
4. More Time To Study
Valentine's Day falls on a Sunday this year. I don't know about you guys, but Sunday's are my lazy, never get out of my pajamas, study day's. Who wants to waste their prime time preparing for the week by eating dinner and going to the movies? Since absolutely no one in our generation is original, and everyone's gonna be at the movies or some "fancy" restaurant, the library is going to be wide open for all of the singles to study. I'll have my life together for the following week, and I couldn't be happier.
5. Learn To Be Happy On Your Own
This is a big one, mostly for us girls. A lot of the time girls are under this constant impression that you need someone else in your life to make you happy. So many girls in our generation have it all backwards. Sure, having someone else there with you can make things brighter, but you need to learn to be happy on your own. I think that's why I'm most grateful to be single on Valentine's Day. It's giving me time to thank myself for being so awesome, and to treat myself to whatever the hell it is that I want. I don't think that any of us single people NEED someone in our lives to feel happy and this day should serve as a reminder to that.
So, for all of you saying that you hate Valentines day, take a second to really think about it. Think of all the reasons you have to be happy. Think of all the different ways you are able to spend your time, other than focusing all of your energy into another human being. Think of all those shitty ex's that you're glad you got rid of. Think of ALL the chocolate you don't have to share.
Don't let this one commercialized holiday ever make you feel like crap. Who cares if you're single on this one day? Being single on February 14th isn't any different than being single on June 2nd.
I hope you're single Valentine's day will be just as awesome as mine!
