Valentines Day Confuses Me

The truth behind why we celebrate Valentines Day and how it first came about is a mystery to many people, here are some explanations I found on http://www.history.com/topics/valentines-day :

 

The history of Valentine’s Day–and the story of its patron saint–is shrouded in mystery. We do know that February has long been celebrated as a month of romance, and that St. Valentine’s Day, as we know it today, contains vestiges of both Christian and ancient Roman tradition. But who was Saint Valentine, and how did he become associated with this ancient rite?

 

The Catholic Church recognizes at least three different saints named Valentine or Valentinus, all of whom were martyred. One legend contends that Valentine was a priest who served during the third century in Rome. When Emperor Claudius II decided that single men made better soldiers than those with wives and families, he outlawed marriage for young men. Valentine, realizing the injustice of the decree, defied Claudius and continued to perform marriages for young lovers in secret. When Valentine’s actions were discovered, Claudius ordered that he be put to death.

 

Other stories suggest that Valentine may have been killed for attempting to help Christians escape harsh Roman prisons, where they were often beaten and tortured. According to one legend, an imprisoned Valentine actually sent the first “valentine” greeting himself after he fell in love with a young girl–possibly his jailor’s daughter–who visited him during his confinement. Before his death, it is alleged that he wrote her a letter signed “From your Valentine,” an expression that is still in use today. Although the truth behind the Valentine legends is murky, the stories all emphasize his appeal as a sympathetic, heroic and–most importantly–romantic figure. By the Middle Ages, perhaps thanks to this reputation, Valentine would become one of the most popular saints in England and France.

 

So through one of these stories, or maybe something else altogether, we now celebrate Valentines Day on February the 14^th of every year.

 

I guess you can say that I have a very love-hate relationship with this holiday. This is because unlike every other holiday where every person can enjoy him or herself and be happy, this holiday comes around every year as a painful reminder to every SINGLE person on this planet that yes, another Valentine’s Day has rolled around, and yes, they are still single.

 

On the other hand, the idea of a day dedicated to love sounds so perfect in theory, and the stories from which it could have been born are equally romantic. They are stories of love, and confessions, and bravery, and fighting for what you want. And this is the day that celebrates all that. On this day you get to borrow some bravery from the legends behind the day and tell the person that you love how you feel about them, and it’s okay to do this in a grand, incredibly cheesy way because it’s Valentines Day.

 

So every year I go through this debate with myself, should I sulk and curse the existence of this day, or should I just celebrate love even if that means treating myself with chocolates and watching romantic movies on TV all day?

 

After years of this debate I had decided that I need to come up with a foolproof plan for me and other people who are in the same mindset as me to make the most of this day without resorting to drowning our sorrows in one too many chocolates. And while I was thinking off what this plan can be, I realized the most amazing thing.

The best thing about planning a Valentines Day for yourself is that there will literally be no room for disappointment. When you are with someone and they are planning a Valentines Day for you they might not know exactly which gift you have your eyes on, or exactly what food you’re craving, or what you are in the mood for doing today. BUT if you are treating yourself to something you can go shopping and pick up the thing you have wanted for so long but you wanted to be practical so you didn’t, you can order all your favorite things to eat at home (because you will get nothing but looks of pity if you try to go out and eat by yourself), and you can decide if you are in the mood to unwind and do something like get a massage or if you are in an adventurous mood in which case you could do something that gets your adrenaline flowing.

 

Basically, being alone on Valentines Day is the perfect excuse to spoil yourself to an insane degree. Go all out so that by the end of the day you’ve made yourself so happy that you begin to feel kind off sorry for the girls whose boyfriends/dates didn’t treat them as well as you treated yourself.

Because lets be honest, Valentines Day falls second to New Years Eve in terms of the hype about how it’s supposed to be an extra special day but just like on New Years Eve where the party is just as good, or maybe even not as good, as some other party you attended that year, it tends to fall short of expectations. Unless you are in a serious, loving relationship, it’s just a date with 200 times more pressure.

 

Nevertheless I think it’s important that if there is some one who you have feelings for you should definitely use this day as an excuse to do what you have been putting off for so long because you were too scared, and tell them how you feel. If you do your research and find out that there’s a high possibility that the person you have feelings for feels the same way about you, then go all out with the mushiest gesture you can think off. But if you’re kind off unsure how they are going to react then keep it simple with maybe just a rose and a honest conversation.

If it doesn’t go well, remember that chocolate is extremely cheap on Valentines Day so you can buy enough to last you a couple of heartbreaks.

 

That’s it for my rant-y, advice-y post about Valentines Day. I know there is no exact point made, but what I want you to take away is that you should do what makes you happy even if the idea of the day makes you a little (or a lot) sad. Remember that you don’t just want a date on Valentines Day, you want love, so stick to spoiling yourself until you find someone who does it even better.

 

Make sure you like, share, and leave a comment and tell me are some of the things you have done on Valentines Day to enjoy yourself without a date. You can also follow this blog to get notified every time I put up a new post, and that button should be in the bottom right corner. The rest of my links are all below:

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xo

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