HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY EVERYONE! I hope the day has treated you all well. If you just so happen to be like me this Valentine’s Day and have found yourself Valentine-less, this blog post is for you! Valentine’s Day can be bitter sweet or maybe just plain sour for a single person. I’ll be the first to admit, in the past, V-Day hasn’t always been one of the days I’ve looked forward to. It’d seemed like after I out grew the elementary V-Day parties and their guaranteed V-Day gifts, the holiday just about made a 180. Don’t get me wrong, the day has always been special, and if anything, I could ALWAYS count on my parents to get me something (thanks Mommy and Daddy for showing me love not only on Valentine’s Day, but every day of the past 19 years). I guess my feelings of the day changed when I entered high school, and saw all the cute couples celebrating by buying each other balloons, bears, candy, cards and flowers. It really wasn’t the gifts that I longed for, but a significant other who I could say loved me and whom I loved back. Could you really blame my high school self for getting in my feelings and somewhat wishing that I could have been one of those cute couples? In my teens, this day has sometimes been over taken by sadness and slight depression (maybe I’m exaggerating about the slight depression, but I swear that’s what it felt like) but on this last V-Day of my teenage years, I’ve decided to go into the day with a better outlook.

“Appreciate the love that is already being given”

After the passing of my grandmother in December, I was stuck missing her love for days on in. Honestly, I still am. Her passing has given me a greater understanding of how we should be appreciative of the love that is already being given to us. It’s easy to overlook the love from loved ones when you’re too busy seeking or yearning it from an individual that either doesn’t have it to return mutually or hasn’t been discovered yet.

“Because love like this doesn’t just grow on trees”

Valentine’s Day can leave you wishing you had a significant other to share it with, but truth being told, I don’t believe this holiday is only reserved for couples. It’s for the givers of love. It’s for the receivers of love. It’s for the people who are both givers and receivers. That means that it should be celebrated with a mother, father, daughter, son, brother, sister, grandma, grandpa, aunt, uncle, cousin two times removed, bestie, or church member. This day is for every and anybody who has given and received love in return.

“It isn’t given for free”

If you don’t have a Valentine’s, don’t spend this entire day down in the dumps. Instead, share it with your loved ones. Their unconditional love for you is irreplaceable and other people aren’t so willing to give you love as freely as they have. If you still believe you need a little more lovin’, how about God’s love for you? Remember, he’s loved us even when our souls were black as coal from our sins. He loved us so, that he sent “his ONLY begotten son” (John 3:16) to earth, placed the weight of our sins on his back, allowed him to be crucified on the cross so that both you and I could have a second chance at life. Jesus loves us a great deal as well because by him sacrificing himself, we have been given the opportunity to have eternal life. That alone makes me feel loved. I feel warm in my heart, tears in my eyes and gratitude in my soul when thinking about it. Being loved unconditionally by God makes me want to love myself better because if he can see value in me, then I must be pretty darn important!

This Valentine’s Day, if you’re feeling empty inside, take the love of your loved ones, love for yourself, and most importantly the love of God, and allow that to fulfill your vacant places. Be glad in it. Bathe in it. Be confident in it. Grow in it. Live freely in it. Girl, turn on some Anita Baker and dance in it!

Happy V-Day once again lovies,

Arlaina *Inserts butterfly emoji*