I’m going to cover a lot of things here, but they all need to be said and read this Valentine’s Day.
You do not need to have a date. You can spend time with your friends, you can spend time with your friends, you can spend time with nobody at all. A graphic from WalletHub says that 45% of adults do not plan to celebrate Valentine’s Day this year, and 50% of singles are proud of their relationship status. Do not feel pressured to find someone to spend Valentine’s Day with. You are enough all on your own.
You do not need to spend a lot of money. WalletHub projects that $27.4 billion will be spent this Valentine’s Day. They also say that 32% of people buying gifts for Valentine’s Day will buy them from discount stores. Consult your wallet and consult anyone you may be spending the day with — again, even if it’s just you.
If you have a partner you want to spend time with, talk in advance about whether you want to do something expensive or just have a quiet night in. WalletHub says 43 million Americans got an unwanted Valentine’s Day gift in 2019, so your partner might not even want anything at all. Either way, your feelings are not defined by your wallet. Cheesy as it sounds, as long as what you do comes with good intentions, you should be fine.
You do not need to celebrate. Whether you’re single or in a relationship, you do not need to celebrate in any particular way. If you would prefer to not acknowledge the day at all, that’s completely fine.
If you have been in a toxic relationship or one that ended badly, and Valentine’s Day brings back bad memories or puts you into a negative state of mind, you have every right to not celebrate the holiday. Nobody should make you feel bad for not celebrating a holiday, especially if it would make you feel bad to celebrate it.
You are loved. Whether it’s your partner, your friends, your pets, your parents or your teachers, you have people out there who care about you. Even if all you want to do this Valentine’s Day is curl up on your couch and play video games (which, again, is valid), don’t forget to take a moment to remember the people in your life who care about you.
And don’t forget to take care of yourself, either. Buy yourself a box of chocolates, take a nice bath, do a face mask or whatever self-care means to you. Reach out to friends who are spending the day alone and make sure they’re doing alright. Even if all you do is send a meme to a friend, take a moment to spread a little bit of love to the world, and the world will spread a little bit of love back.
Information from WalletHub and the full graphic from which I pulled my statistics can be found here.
Categories: Opinion
THE HERALD 
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