How to Survive Valentine’s Day Without a Valentine

Do you know what 15% of women do on Valentine’s Day? They send flowers to themselves. 

That is not something I made up. It is true. I saw it on my daily shampoo. 

Honestly. I saw it printed on the back of the bottle. Seemingly, the company had the idea of placing trivia games, so the question goes on the shampoo bottle and the answer will be on the conditioner. 

Yes, yes, yes… it is a day of love, cute little doves, cute little cupids, cute little stuffed animals… and cute little whatever-you-want-to-imagine stuff. 

Everything is covered in red and pink, you see huge balloons, pretty chocolate packages and you might get something special from your special one.

Cool, huh? Valentine’s Day can be great… when you have your Valentine!

So, what happens when you have no significant other and have to spend this day watching how everybody else is oh-so-happy and oh-so-in-love, that you might seem to be the Valentine Grinch around. 

Well I, for one, don’t like Valentine’s Day. Why? Because it is just a day born from of marketing, just like Christmas with Coca-Cola and red Santa Claus everyone knows. Have you noticed how it seems to fit seamlessly with the Coca-Cola’s environment and marketing. 

No, I am not a Valentine’s Grinch; I just refuse to follow a date that everybody follows just because… well, just because everybody follows it! It is the same paradox when you ask why Twilight is a bestseller. The answer is because IT IS a bestseller. 

If you have a significant other, you don’t need a special day to celebrate your affections. Hey, if you live everyday bickering at each other and fighting, just because he/she gives you a Teddy Bear on Valentine’s Day doesn’t mean everything is cool. Why not live a love-day everyday?

Ok, so you don’t have a significant other and you hate Valentine’s Day. Maybe you get depressed from all the marketing around you. Fret not! There are a couple of things you can do:

• Sleep (Ok, if you want hugs, grab a Teddy Bear). 
• Watch a movie (if it is anti-romantic you get extra points).
• Eat a bunch of chocolates.
• Go out with your friends. 
• Write an article (or two…).

If you still insist that you want to get a couple before Valentine’s, I’ll let you in a little secret: stop thinking about it.

Curiously, when you are thinking about that particular day and about how much you would like to have a boyfriend/girlfriend, you will never get one. 

That happened to me, honestly. I spent much time waiting for someone and hoping that by next year I would not be alone in Valentine’s Day, and I always ended up going out with my best friend. 

And then I stopped worrying about it. It worked like a charm and I got my significant other. Now, I am going to tell you another secret: when you get a couple, somehow you become more atractive for the opposite sex, so be careful with all the attention you might be getting. 

Oh, and if you are a girl, please don’t send flowers to yourself! And, if you are a boy… well… don’t do it either.