Fridays with Edie: How to manage being single on Valentine’s Day

“Hi Edie, Valentine’s Day is coming up and I’m the only single person in my house! How do I deal with being single and surrounded by couples?”

It’s that time of year again. You’ve made it through the miseries of January and we are beginning to see spring on the horizon. The realisation hits you like a ton of bricks: You’ve still got to get through Valentine’s Day. The shops are stocked up on the cringiest stuff you’ve ever seen, and people start to ask you what you’re up to on that dreaded day. You go home, watch The Notebook and cry about being eternally alone.

Valentine’s Day isn’t just for the couples, it can be about expressing love and gratitude for the people you are most grateful for in your life. There are plenty of things you can be doing instead of sitting at home feeling sad about your slacking love life. Go out with your other single friends, bake and decorate cookies, buy yourself a takeaway, have one too many at The Vic and have to be carried home by the boys in your house!

It’s important to remember that this is just like any other day. Just because there are going to be pictures of people’s significant other all over social media doesn’t mean that you have to seriously re-evaluate your life. Take a step back and realise that everything happens for a reason. I bet you are secretly glad you’re not spending your day with that guy that led you on for months and then one day never texted you back. Being alone doesn’t mean you are lonely.

I also hate the phrase “I’m going to die alone” FYI. Just because you aren’t with someone right now doesn’t mean it is always going to be that way. If you feel like you’ll never be in a relationship, try and remember that it is SO MUCH better being with someone that you really love and value. Being able to truly appreciate another person (romantically or otherwise) starts with how you feel about yourself. You can’t love others if you haven’t learnt to love yourself yet.

It might be your first single Valentine’s Day or it could be one of many. Regardless, it is so important to remember that your worth is not defined by your relationship status. Relationships are not meant to be treated as a social marker: They are mutually fulfilling and can be really amazing, but only if you’re with the right person. Don’t feel sad you are single on Valentine’s Day, that just means your person is still out there for you, waiting to cross paths.

Valentine’s Day is just like any other day. It is as important or as unimportant as you want it to be. You decide. Take time and appreciate the people in your life that you love – regardless of your relationship status.

Remember there are lots of people that love you.

I hope this helps – lots of love, Edie x

Send in your dialemmas to Edie here.

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