Your Valentine’s Day Expectations

Valentine’s Day can be a bliss-filled experience of love and romance, but it can also mix up some heart-wrenching anxiety around the status of your relationship or your lack of one. Instead of cracking under the pressure, learn how to keep the love you’ve got alive, foster a breeding ground for new love to enter, or celebrate your singlehood by following these simple tips:

Manage Expectations
Heart Day has been known to bring out either the best or the worst in people. The content ones sit back and enjoy the day with anticipation and excitement. Others stress over creating the perfect night or procuring the best possible gift. Some ponder where the relationship is going, followed by bouts of panic when they’re not on course. Those not coupled may fly high with freedom, or bang themselves on the head for having to endure yet another Valentine’s Day without a partner. But let’s not forget the heart of the matter — it’s a time to celebrate love!

While Hallmark likes to create an air of V-Day being the make or break moment of the year, in reality it is one day that will pass with the rising and setting of the sun. Regardless of where you land on the relationship spectrum, the best thing you can do is to not get your heart set on what you believe should or shouldn’t be happening. Instead, open your eyes and your heart with no goal other than to enjoy wherever the day takes you. So what if you didn’t get a dozen roses or the sexy lingerie you imagined. Time is what you make of it, so don’t get stuck in preconceived notions of what the day should bear — just experience it and enjoy it as it unfolds.

Live in the Moment
How many times have we heard this sentiment? Why? Because it’s the one thing that we actually have control over. All the spinning forward or backwards in time takes away from the experience of what is going on right before our eyes. People get into trouble this time of year by placing too much emphasis on the day or by falling into the trappings of pushing towards certain milestones that the relationship might not be ready for. The other trouble spot is measuring your special day against those around you.

Your cube mate got a singing telegram first thing in the morning, while you sat and waited for a measly call or even email from your squeeze. Suddenly, the day can seem like the worst day of the year because you feel like everyone around you is swimming in love, and you appear to be standing still or alone again. First, you don’t know the whole story. It could be that your seemingly lucky co-worker only got an over-the-top present because their partner is in the doghouse. Second, stop feeling sorry for yourself and take action. Remind yourself of all the things you have to be thankful for. Do you have a loving family, a supportive set of friends, a healthy social network, a loyal pet, or a fabulous footloose life of independence?

Embrace Love in all Forms
Valentines is not just a day for lovers, it’s for celebrating love in the general sense of the word. You can choose whatever type of love you think is worthy of raising a glass to … Maybe it is the love of a good friend, an activity or project that you have a great passion for, a family member that cares about you unconditionally, or even the love of a good book or movie that takes you to a place you yearn to go.

Don’t underestimate the power of all types of love, those that are tangible here on earth, as well as the love of your own spirituality and everything that goes with it. Look at Valentine’s Day as a time to commemorate the simple pleasure of loving yourself, your life, and those within it. Love is truly a beautiful thing in all of its wonderful ways, so choose to embrace and celebrate them all!