Valentine’s Day is for some who feel obligated by florists, chocolate & card companies to show your undying love. It’s the best sales month of the year for some!

These businesses have created great expectations among those influenced folks to show love on a specific day each year.

Nobody wants to receive a sour expression of disappointment or disapproval by their loved ones, so compliance ensues.

Do we have to go out to a restaurant for dinner that day to show how much we love and appreciate our beloved? Would it not be just as nice the week before or after, without the added costs for that ‘special’ day?

I realize I may sound as though I dislike Valentine’s Day and all it’s trappings. Chocolate (after tea) is my most favorite thing!

Fresh flowers are wonderful to ogle and smell, especially in our long winters in Canada. A well-chosen card gets me right in the heart like an arrow from Cupid.

So why am I writing this? We have freedom of choice, so we don’t have to act through guilt or expectations only desire.

If you are one of those folks that do things regularly for your spouse then you have nothing to prove to them just because it’s on the calendar. You decide what you want to do.

If you need reminders to be kind and loving, then, by all means, take this early post as a reminder to order up those flowers right now and then it’s done if you’d like. Send them today and it will be a real surprise!

If you need reminding to do things for your beloved, your life may be out of balance. Do you love and value the person you are in a relationship with? Then make them a priority in your life now, before it’s too late.

You can set a reminder weekly or monthly to check in with yourself to see when you last did or said something appreciative and loving to that person?

Write yourself a list of a dozen things that your loved one would appreciate when you said or did for them, then put it on your reminder. Done!

Make loving acts of kindness simple and easy to do then you may decide to say no more Valentines’ entrapments for you!

If you are the one feeling under-appreciated then it may be time to speak to your beloved. It’s time to voice your feelings and desires, not that it means they will fulfill them.

Communicating your needs are valid to your growth as an individual as well as your part of the couple.

Not everyone believes in Valentine’s Day so ditch the guilt and claim what you want.

If there is no special one in your life right now, Valentine’s Day can create an emptiness for some. Do something about it!

I have a friend who got several singles together for an un-Valentine’s Day party. Meet a friend and go to a funny movie or a play. Call someone you’d like to get to know better and just grab a coffee together.

You don’t have to sit around feeling sad or sorry for yourself.

Life is filled with choices so make a new choice today to follow your heart and do what feels right within you.

George Sand said, “There is only one happiness in this life, to love and be loved.” It may not be the only happiness but it’s up there near the top.

I wish you love.

It doesn’t matter if you give and receive love from a parent or a puppy, a kitten or a dear friend! Be kind generous and loving to others and also to yourself.

Author: Tammy Rowland
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