Valentine's Day. The name itself resonates with romance, love and fireworks! For many of us, it is a day filled with high sentimental expectations because after all, isn't this supposed to be the day to express your true feelings for the love of your life? The day when a bold statement, filled with symbolism, is supposed to be made not only between two lovers but also for the WHOLE world watching? That's probably one of the reasons why Feb. 14 (aka "V" Day) is said to be "one of the biggest" engagement date of the year, right behind Christmas Eve.
But aside from romance, did you know the true love fest undoubtedly resides with the "love merchants" of the world? Yes Honey! For all the confectionary makers, restaurant owners, flower shops keepers, jewelry artisans, greeting cards manufacturers, champagne producers, fragrance makers, etc., Valentine's Day really translates, in the U.S. alone, into $20 BILLION worth of love! That's a lot of love and coincidently, "V" Day happens to be just seven short weeks after the annual shopping peek: Christmas season!
We may sound satirical but make no mistake: We do see a lot of good with February's red-soaked date. Anything that promotes "love," we are big fans of... as long as love remains true and doesn't take second row behind other motivators...
So here's the four main challenges we have with Cupidon's annual frenzy, whether you are in a relationship or you're not:
1. If you are in a relationship and put so much emphasis on being covered with roses and chocolates every time Feb. 14 comes along, doesn't it tell a lot of what you ultimately value in the relationship? Or is this simply an indication that you are not feeling loved the rest of the year?
2. If you are NOT in a relationship and are heartbroken just at the thought of not having new pics to upload to your social media profile, are you truly looking for love or is feeling "acknowledged" by the crowd really what you are looking for?
3. If you are in one of those stormy relationships, with the two of you always fighting over the slightest details all year around, are you using Valentine's Day as a cover up for your dysfunctional romance?
4. If you are NOT in a relationship and are feeling melancholic about previous Feb. 14 celebrations, (you know the ones before he or she ran away?) well if it's the case, isn't this the time for you to move on? How long will you accept to get stuck in your past?
In a nutshell, we think that if you are alone on Valentine's Day, you should not necessarily see this as a curse. You probably spared yourself an over priced bad dinner in an overbooked restaurant with an awful service provided by overstretched and stressed out waiters, with someone who's maybe only sailing the love wave... Just smile and be happy. You're worth more than that!
But if you have someone dear to your heart with whom you'll be spending Feb. 14 with, here's what we hope: That you also have your own special date(s) on the calendar that you commemorate, date(s) that are only yours to celebrate when you don't need flower shops or chocolate makers to remind you how lucky you are to have that special person in your life.
P.S. For the record, we both loooooove flowers and chocolates!
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Authors, relationship coaches and HuffPost bloggers Diane and Mario Cloutier found each other in 1998 after they both had experienced unfulfilling relationships. Their new book, Relovenship -- Look Within to Love Again! (Xclamat!on Media, 2015) gives inspiration, hope and a step-by-step methodology to people who have had romantic disappointments and are still looking to find "the one." Mario Cloutier is founder and chief creative officer of Xclamat!ion Marketing. Diane Sawaya Cloutier enjoyed a successful career in managerial roles with Fortune 500 organizations before focusing fulltime on the couple's ReLovenship book and seminars. For booking inquiries or to learn more about the authors, go to ReLovenship.com.