Valentine’s Day…for some, the year’s best holiday of the year and for others a day that is commonly dreaded. We have been conditioned to believe that this is a day set aside for significant others to spend the day together and for everyone to shower their families with boxes of chocolates and bouquets of flowers. We feel like we are not worthy if we don’t have a “valentine” but that is just simply not true.
There should not be a single day set aside for love, and I think what we often times forget is to love ourselves first. Being confident in who you are and loving yourself allows you to love others well and more intentionally. Without becoming arrogant or conceded, we should love ourselves in a way that will allow us to walk with a genuine self-confidence and create a loving environment around us.
We often define ourselves by what we learn from Disney fairy tales or from a celebrity with the “perfect” life. From the popular, reality television show, The Bachelor to relentless Hallmark holiday cards, we are fixated on the idea that we must live our lives hoping that in the end someone will love us.
Culture has allowed us to believe the lies they are feeding us that we are not good enough and that we have to work hard to receive the right kind of love. We should seek to better ourselves first and chase what we want in life before we begin to settle for a so called “fairy tale” lifestyle.
In the long run, it will be hard to find the right person if we do not first find ourselves. It is alright to be vulnerable and spend time searching for something greater within yourself. Having a sense of self-worth is important in today’s society because of the pressure people are faced with on a daily basis.
Valentine’s Day is also simply over-advertised and has become a world-wide frenzy. Teddy bears the size of humans, heart shaped boxes of chocolates and never ending aisles of pink and red décor at your local supermarket constantly remind us of what culture says about love. Love should not be categorized into a holiday or a season.
We should shower the ones that we love with words of affirmation and flowers on the days they would least expect it and treat ourselves to a dozen roses on days when we feel deserving of love.
Do not rely on other people to boost your self-confidence and make you feel worthy. Empower yourself and define your own worth. Allow yourself to be proud of who you are and who you are becoming; and stop comparing yourself to those around you.
This Valentine’s season, I hope you are encouraged to better love yourself and make the people in your life feel special whether it is a holiday or not. You are so worth loving, and do not you ever forget it.
