The people that know me best know my history with Valentine’s Day. Although I date regularly I haven’t been in a “long-term” relationship for a number of years which usually equals no Valentine for me when February rolls around. There is no pre-planning on my part to be single on Valentine’s Day, no purposeful avoidance of having to get someone a gift, and until right now I had never even thought much about it. But I just realized I seem to be in between dating a lot when the V-day comes up... am I allergic to dating in February? I’ll have to think that one through at a later date. Anyway this brings me to the whole point of this blog, to share my much earned experience on the topic of…SINGLEDOM on the day of love.
Sure every now and then we all enjoy a nice little pity party but I want to encourage you to not make Valentine’s day into one of them. If you are single for whatever reason when the dawn of February 14th arises, know that there are plenty of reasons to be happy and thankful. I hate how society appears to deem singleness as some type of unwanted and lesser state than being a couple. I will scream my dissent! I have enjoyed some of the absolute best years of my life being single! I believe there are all kinds of seasons in life and God wants us to squeeze every bit of blessing out of whichever one we find ourselves in. One season isn’t always better than the other, they are just different.
So if your current season is as a single don’t let the Valentine’s hype make you feel depressed. There are plenty of things you can do on that day. Most importantly I believe in order to stop dwelling on how lonely you may feel, start thinking about what you can do for other people. Surely you know people that are single and maybe even widowed that will struggle through the holiday. Wouldn’t your time be better spent showing the other people in your life how much you care about them on Valentine’s Day instead of sitting around thinking about being alone?
In years past I have mailed Valentine’s cards to different friends whether married or single to show them I love them. I have taken flowers to elderly ladies that were shut-ins from my church on Valentine’s Day. I always get my mom, dad, and my grandmother a card, flowers, or chocolate, Disclaimer: if you think this is lame, I don’t care. This year my parents and I talked about going out to dinner and one of my friends invited me out for a group bowling trip that night. I’m not spilling all of this to puff myself up about acts of service, I just truly want to give you examples of things you can do too. I can attest that on those holidays that I have focused on things I could do for other people I didn’t feel the slightest bit of loneliness or discontentment. A great thing has happened along with me trying to give to others, quite often people think of me too. I’ve received a lot of love from my friends and family in various ways that I was so grateful for because of course everyone wants to know someone loves them on Valentine’s Day.
Valentine’s Day is a holiday about love. Romantic love is just a portion of the many different loves in our lives. I personally view it as a day that I can show love in all of my relationships. So if you are married, then by all means show some love to your spouse. If you have children, show them how much you care. If you are single, express your love for the special people in your life. But please, please, don’t let the holiday open up the door for that pity party! Don’t sit around and mope over what you don’t have when you already possess so much!
No comments:
Post a Comment