Probably the most hated holiday there is, Valentine’s Day tends to serve as a reminder for single people everywhere that they are in fact single.
Commonly known as “Single Awareness Day,” Valentine’s Day is underappreciated by people everywhere. Instead of serving as a reminder for all of the blessings that surround us every day, this holiday is looked down upon as a made-up holiday that makes people feel bad about their lives. But for those of you hopeless romantics out there that love the idea of Valentine’s Day, I’m with you completely.
I actually look forward to this day every year and tend to scorn those who try to undermine it for the rest of us. What is so bad about celebrating love? We celebrate virtually everything else, no matter how ridiculous it is. You don’t need a boyfriend or a girlfriend to celebrate love; it is something that affects every one of us every day. Love is everywhere — celebrate your dog, family and best friend. One of the biggest arguments that people have against Valentine’s Day is that it is a consumerist holiday designed only to make stores and restaurants money. This argument would be valid if other holidays such as Christmas, Hanukkah, birthdays and others didn’t call for gifts and special meals as well. Yes, it could in fact be argued that Valentine’s Day was created to make money, but then I would expect this same argument against all other moneymaking holidays. You give people a gift on their birthday to show that you appreciate them and to celebrate their life, why is Valentine’s Day any different? It is important to let the people in your life know how much they mean to you while you still have the chance to. This is what Valentine’s Day hopes to do; it serves as a reminder to set aside one day of our lives to let everyone that we care about know how much we appreciate them.
Often our lives are so hectic that it is difficult to make time for our loved ones. Think about the night that you had too much homework to go to the mall with your best friend or the night that you had to prepare a big presentation so you skipped family dinner or all of your missed calls from your grandmother that you just never got around to returning. All of these events are normal and we shouldn’t feel guilty about them.
However, what we should do is let all of these people know how much they mean to us and how even though we often forget to say it, we do love them. Valentine’s Day isn’t just a day to go to dinner and a movie with your significant other and buy flowers, chocolate and teddy bears — it is a day for love and gratitude. So instead of giving couples callous scowls, go call your family, hug your friends, kiss your pets and above all smile at all of the blessings in your life this Feb. 14.
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