Valentine's Day is approaching quickly. Cue your friends' tweets and Facebook posts about how Valentine’s Day is just a reminder that they will be “forever alone.” People use this holiday as a chance to complain about their lack of a significant other, but they miss the purpose of the holiday.
To me, Valentine's Day is just an excuse to indulge in heart-shaped chocolates and cute little flowers. It’s an opportunity to tell all the people you love that they are your valentine and that you care about them. It may be a little dumb or over the top, but it’s fun to be a little cheesy one day out of the year.
Valentine’s Day isn’t only about your boyfriend or girlfriend. In fact, some of my favorite valentines are my parents. When I was little my parents always made sure to get me a card and tell me I was their valentine. As silly as that sounds to some, it always made me happy.
This holiday was one of the best days of the school year. I absolutely loved getting and receiving those little valentine cards and candy from my classmates in elementary school. It was a small act of kindness that was fun and inclusive of everyone. Valentine’s was a day when everyone was friends and everyone got a valentine. That was one of the few days of the year in school that everyone was friends and everyone was accepted.
Of course, it is special to spend Valentine’s Day with your significant other, but if you don’t have one, it isn't the end of the world. Make your best friend your valentine, or your sibling. There aren’t any rules that this has to be a romantic holiday. I know for many people Valentine's is a reminder of a lack of love in their life, but that love can be found elsewhere and isn’t dependent on a boyfriend or girlfriend.
This holiday, make Valentine's a positive experience for yourself. Don’t be that guy that complains on Twitter about your love life. Instead, remember what this day was like in elementary school. Make everyone your valentine and enjoy the simplicity of celebrating love for one another.
