Let’s face it, no matter how many times you tell yourself that Valentine’s day is just a money making exercise, it can suck being single on the 14th February.  You can’t open a newspaper, or walk past a shop without being reminded of love; even those in the unhappiest of relationships seem to find themselves browsing the Valentine’s meal deal in the local supermarket!
It can be easy to dwell on past relationships and see your single status as a negative thing at this time of year so here are my top tips for getting through Valentine’s day without sobbing into a large glass of Chardonnay!
Love Yourself
You don’t need to be in a relationship to be spoiled rotten – do it for yourself. There is a famous saying that you can’t expect someone to love you unless you love yourself, so get started today and treat yourself to something that will make you happy.
Remind yourself of why you’re single
Ever been in a relationship and thought you’d be better off being single? Well, Valentine’s day is the day to remember this and count your blessings. Make a list of all the things you love about being single and keep this list at the forefront of your mind throughout the day. You may not be in a relationship right now, but there are lots of things that being single gives you that many people who are part of a couple would yearn for.
Get Busy
Seek out others who aren’t celebrating and do something completely different and as far from romantic as possible. Don’t arrange to go to the cinema, or for a meal where you’re likely to be surrounded by lots of couples, choose to do something a bit different like storming your local pub quiz, going to the gym or a girls/boys night out.
Give your love to others
Ok, so you don’t have a partner, but what about giving some of your love and time to those that need it. Volunteer at a local soup kitchen or animal shelter and give a bit back; doing something positive for others can make you feel great and distract you from feeling down about Valentine’s day.
Audit your love life
Use Valentine’s day as an opportunity to reflect on your love life over the last 12 months and where you’d like to be in 12 months time. Be honest with yourself; what steps have you been taking to find a new relationship? Have you been doing enough? What hasn’t worked well? There are tons of resources out there to help you see where you might have been going wrong; talk to those that know you, read articles on the internet. And the most important question to ask yourself when auditing your love life – what are you going to do differently over the next year? If you do what you’ve always done, you’ll get what you’ve already got!!
And one final tip – keep it in perspective. It’s only one day, and on the 15th February, it will be a distant memory!
