Be your Own Valentine

Valentines day is almost here. This day has been specifically set aside by us humans, to celebrate love and romance. The first Valentine’s Day was in the year 496! Having a particular Valentine’s Day is a very old tradition, thought to have originated from a Roman festival. The Romans had a festival called Lupercalia in the middle of February – officially the start of their springtime.

Valentine’s Day is named after Saint Valentine, a Catholic priest who lived in Rome in the 3rd Century. There are many stories about St Valentine and over time these stories grew into the legend we know today. The history of Valentine’s Day—and the story of its patron saint—is shrouded in mystery. We do know that February has long been celebrated as a month of romance, and that St. Valentine’s Day, as we know it today, contains vestiges of both Christian and ancient Roman tradition.

No matter where Valentines Day came from, who started it or what it means to different people in different religions and cultures, when we think of Valentines Day, it conjures images of loving couples with a romantic sense of love in the air. But, not everyone is in a loving relationship. There are a lot of people out there who are single and who perhaps get to be made to feel bad about themselves because of being single – not having that someone special in their lives. Of course this is all the work of the media and the commercial side of Valentines Day is after all, to make money from a day set aside to spoil your loved one.

In a previous article I wrote entitled “What is Love”, the object of that article was to bring to everyone’s attention what love is. Whilst loving someone in a romantic way and getting to share your life that with person is a wonderful state to be in, it should never be seen as all that is needed to make one feel complete, to make one feel accepted and part of a society that shuns those who aren’t the same.

True love can only be expressed when absolute unconditional love is felt for the self. One has to love oneself in order to know what love is, in order to be able to give that love away or share it with someone else. If you don’t know what it is to love yourself, how is it possible for you to know how to love another human being. It is important to consistently fill your own cup with admiration for yourself, with kindness for yourself, with respect for yourself, with acceptance for yourself, with compassion for yourself. It’s important to consistently make yourself happy, to feed yourself with calm and serene thoughts. And in doing all this, you will find yourself so much more able to give of yourself and to love someone completely. You do need to remind yourself all the time, that you cannot give what you don’t have.

Be your own Valentine this year and every year. Love yourself first and spoil yourself as you would your partner. You owe it to yourself. Happy Valentines Day.