Ten years ago if you had asked someone what Valentine's meant to them they would probably tell you that it was really no big deal. It might have been important for a florist who has a promotion or a local restaurant that offers roses with its dinner but there was never a big deal about it and never too much money, time and effort that was spent on it.



However, these days Valentine's Day is such a big thing that you would have to be living on the moon if you didn't know anything about it. As early as December, you will be surrounded by advertisements, promotions, special offers and gift ideas in newspapers, on TV, on radio, on the Internet - basically everywhere you turn. For some people all this hype is way too much and they prefer to ignore the slightest insinuation that Valentine's Day is on its way.

Others will find it quite depressing that they see or hear so much about it everywhere, considering that they are actually single and find that they will have no one to celebrate it with. Contrary to popular belief though, Valentine's Day is about love and not necessarily among couples only. It can also be shared amongst family, friends and anyone you would like to share love with.

You can be 9 or 90 but love is something we all feel and it is definitely something we all need in both small and big ways. It keeps us happy so there's definitely no use in letting the commercial aspects of Valentine's actually ruin this thought for you. First and foremost you must at all times remember that self-pity never made the world a better place for anyone even if it is Valentine's Day.

If being alone seems to be such a problem to you then it would be best to set yourself up for doing something about it. Don't wallow. The more time you allow yourself to spend on thinking how depressed you are then the more depressed you are likely to become. The trick of overcoming that dreary feeling is to make sure that it has no chance of occurring in the first place by trying to keep yourself occupied at all times.

Be it through activities, family or friends, don't allow yourself that opportunity to sit down and look at photographs or letters that are going to leave you feeling sad, morose and lonely. Even if you do come across these pictures or other mementos by accident, make it a point to remember that at one point you were happy and, as they say, you must not have regrets about something that made you smile in the first place.

Seeing that you need time to find a date and preferably one with someone that you at least like, you had better be quick about it. Even as you spot the ads and special offers that start coming out in late December, you had better put a stop to those self-pitying thoughts and get moving to try to get yourself a date, or at least working on a working up an optimistic attitude for Valentine's Day.

Copyright (c) 2008 Peter Twist