The Valentine’s Day Dilemma

We can place blame on fairy tales, movies, and TV for the dilemma I refer to as brief high hopes and fantastic dreams involving Valentine’s Day.

When someone drops and shatters a glass from across the room, our heads automatically spin to look in that direction. Similarly, whether we gals want to admit it or not, when hearing the words “Valentine’s Day” for the first time in the year, our minds instantly float to receiving a dozen roses at work, coming home to a champagne greeting at the door, finding elegant presents wrapped in glittery red, a beautiful night on the town, a helicopter ride around New York City … and, we immediately stop our extreme thoughts there.

OK, I’ll admit the truth: Valentine’s Day has become a day where we might convince ourselves not to have expectations in order to avoid disappointment. Personally, as described in my The Joy of Giving post, my automatic thought triggers are as a result of my father’s extreme celebration of every holiday, including Valentine’s Day. I was the only girl in my college dorm, for instance, who received cookie bouquets or homemade cake deliveries on February 14. I truly loved it.

But I also unrealistically and unknowingly expected every boyfriend along the way to celebrate the day as I had been taught: Go all out. As you can imagine, the guys weren’t really on board with this, and I learned that—shockingly—most people don’t even celebrate the day at all. Sometimes, February 14 is just another day. And in some cases, it’s a day to celebrate Anti-Valentine’s Day, but only for the truly jaded.

How about a happy medium? Over the years, I’ve learned the art of giving to myself or friends, and giving to the special guys too. Rather than spending a fortune on flowers, chocolate, champagne, dinners, and helicopter rides, we can give more simply and extend the celebration and appreciation of a person.

This life journey realization was the inspiration behind creating a package where your special gal or guy, a friend, a sibling, or anyone can open a surprise version of Valentine’s Day for four or seven days. Why multiple days? By opening one day at a time, you can extend the feeling of appreciation, celebration, and joy. Why not? We only live once that we know of, so let’s be happy.