Valentine’s Day Thoughts

Tags

Holiday, Love, Relationships

Valentine’s Day is a holiday that we ALL can celebrate, whether we’re in “A RELATIONSHIP” or not (I say it in quotes because each of us are apart of lots of relationships with people in our lives). There are plenty of people we can celebrate, including ourselves! For singles, Valentine’s Day can still be a fun day of loving ourselves well and spending time with good friends. For those in a dating/committed/marriage relationship, Valentine’s Day is still a day to love others well, AND LOVE ourselves well. That’s the thing- to love others well we need to love ourselves well. If we can’t love ourselves well, then we certainly can’t love others well. I’ve written about this before, and have three links posted below on the topic.

Why not be proactive this week in looking forward to Valentine’s day! Plan something fun to do with other people, spend time intentionally doing things that you love to do, and invest in yourself and in your relationships!

Some Specific Valentine’s Day Related Posts:

Loving Yourself {On Valentine’s Day}

You Are An Investment!

A Look at Valentine’s Day: Spend the day doing things that you love to do!

Heart Shaped Gingerbread Cookies: A twist on the classic Christmas cookie, these heart shaped gingerbread cookies are fun and delicious!

Cherry Vanilla Cupcakes: a delicious Valentine’s day treat for friends, family, or co-workers!

Valentine’s Day Oatmeal: Kids and adults alike would love this delicious (albeit not the most healthy!) oatmeal bowl!

Now it’s your turn to share! Do you have a favorite Valentine’s Day food? What’s something that you love doing that you can do this week?

Mental Health Monday: Loving Yourself {On Valentine’s Day}

Tags

Holiday, Love, Mental Health

Ah, it’s Valentine’s Week, and all the anti- Valentine’s day people are out in full swing. The thing is, I get it. I understand that Valentine’s Day can be a reminder of our “aloneness”, or can hit our fear that we aren’t enough for a relationship. This Valentine’s Day, instead of grumbling about how much you dislike the day (because honestly, grumbling just leads to feeling worse about things, not better) why not choose to focus on loving yourself well and having fun throughout the day. You can read all about how I shifted my focus last Valentine’s Day here.

In the name of loving ourselves not only on Valentine’s Day, but on each day of the year, here are some ideas:

View yourself as an investment: Instead of viewing the time and energy you put into yourself as selfish, acknowledge the investment you are putting into yourself, and how that will positively impact those around you. I devoted an entire post to this a few weeks ago.

Plan a fun girls night. Even if you aren’t dating someone, you can still have a great night full of love and laughter! Go out or stay in, but plan something fun so you aren’t alone throwing yourself a pity party.

Pamper yourself! Schedule a massage, haircut, manicure, pedicure or something similar. Not only do we usually feel a little about ourselves, but it’s a fun way to show care towards ourselves and our bodies!

Take a new class! This is not only fun, but can introduce you to new people and teach you a new skill. Here are a few ideas: Baking, cake decorating, scrap booking, a fitness class, sewing class, wood working course, art class, etc…

Remember that your worth doesn’t come from a relationship status. I know that sometimes it really does feel like our sense of “okay-ness” comes from whether we’re in a relationship or not, but it doesn’t. Try to avoid that connection as much as possible.

The primary point is this- you can choose not to be miserable this Valentine’s Day! You can choose to love and invest in yourself, and you can choose to have fun with those in your life, even if you aren’t dating someone. And, if you are dating someone, it’s important to focus on loving yourself too!

Now it’s your turn to share! How do you plan on loving yourself this Valentine’s Day? What’s one of your favorite ways to pamper yourself?

A Look At Valentine’s Day

Tags

Holiday, Love

I love holidays. I’m all about decorating my house or office and celebrating the day. The truth? I haven’t really enjoyed Valentine’s Day all that much in many years. When I was little it was fun! Valentine’s day morning I would wake up and find a little tin of candy hearts next to my breakfast plate. I would skip off to school where we would have a Valentine’s Day party and I’d get lots of candy. What kid wouldn’t love that? But then the school parties stopped and it became an annoying hallmark holiday. To be honest, I was rather grumpy about the entire holiday in high school and most of collage. I regret that now. Why?

Valentine’s Day isn’t just for couples. I still don’t love Valentine’s Day, but what if we can re-focus a bit and work on loving others well today? What if we can work on loving ourselves well? If you’re single, instead of focusing on how “negative” this day is or how alone you are, why not focus on all the people around you who you love? Make fun plans with them and enjoy the day!

So what are my plans today? I’m spending the day doing things that I LOVE.

• I started the morning talking to people I love on the phone and texting others.
• I’m working at a job I love.
• After work I’m going on a short run which I will love!
• I will then go get frozen yogurt (which I love!) with a friend
• I will be watching Biggest Loser while eating frozen yogurt with my friend
• I will end the day with a Skype date

Who says that you need someone there to give you flowers or chocolates and take you out to dinner to have a fun day? Today is full of healthy and fun things and spending time with people I care about. So, instead of complaining or scrunching up your nose at the day, why not focus on doing things you love with people that you love?

Now it’s your turn to share! Do you enjoy Valentine’s Day? What’s one thing you are doing today that you love? How are you letting people in your life know that you care about them?