Originally Published: February 22nd, 2023
Updated: September 10th, 2023
This post contains affiliate links. By making a purchase, we at ThrivingIndependently receive a commission. To learn more, here is our disclaimer and disclosure. Thank you for your support! ❤︎
This article is all about how to show yourself love on Valentines Day.
![love on valentine's day](https://thrivingindependently.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/completion-1-683x1024.png)
Partner or no partner, we still have to know how to take care of catering to our own needs every day of the year and especially on Valentine’s day.
If you have a partner or loved one’s, of course, this is a day to cherish them, but please recognize that you would not be here without one critical person…YOU!
Now, it is true that Valentine’s day is marketed towards those who are in relationships, but the flowers and chocolate are of no less value if you buy them for yourself. Single people still like chocolate!
The Plan
Alrighty, so this is your guide to showing yourself love on Valentine’s Day, or any day for that matter. If you already have plans, you can do this the day before or after, but I recommend that you consider Valentine’s Day to be a two-part event. It doesn’t matter which part you give to whom as long as both elements are accounted for. One part should be for you and the other part is for everyone else.
You can separate these events by time, space, etc., but it is important that you see them as two separate parts. How often do you get to truly show yourself love, while intentionally recognizing that what you are doing is for you and you alone?
Probably not often, if ever. We see on social media all of the ways that we can practice self-care and the truth is that it is extremely relative. How you choose to care for yourself is your business, but it should be something that you are excited about and that you make time for.
Why should I make time for myself? I feel great!
This is a very valid question that I feel a few of you may feel compelled to ask. My first response is “Why not?”, What are the disadvantages of you setting aside time for yourself?” You would probably feel comfortable explaining to someone else why they deserve a break, or why they should take care of themselves, don’t you deserve the same?
My second response is that if you do not make time for yourself, no one else will, and the world certainly won’t. Think of how you spend your days where you do not plan. Your time is always filled in ways that you did not plan. You may even think of ways that your time could be better spent after the day is over.
It is important to take care of yourself and to invest time into yourself to recharge you and prepare you for what is to come. Your day of self-care does not need to be elaborate, but you should make it something that you look forward to. This will make it more likely that you do it in the first place.
Here are some ways that you can show yourself love on Valentines Day
Do something that you enjoy alone
Some examples of this are:
- Painting
- Building a puzzle
- Do a diamond painting
- Learning a dance
- Reading
The keyword here is alone. You can do these things with people on any other day, but on this day, you should do it alone. You can vibe out to music or sit and enjoy your own thoughts. Unless, you intentionally do things alone often, not the times when you have no one else to do it with, but choosing to do things by yourself, you probably do not get much intentional alone time.
The things that you do are not limited to your home either. If you want to go to the gym or have a picnic, those things count as well. The magic is in you planning a time when you can do something that you enjoy alone. By planning this time for yourself, it will feel different from any other time when you do these activities alone, which is the whole point.
If you liked this post, you’ll love these:
- Starting from Zero | Best Ways to Set Yourself Up for Success
- How to Stop Overthinking and Take Back Control of Your Life
- How to show yourself love on Valentine’s Day
Finish any unfinished business
Now, this suggestion is to care for your future self. It may not look like traditional self-care at first, but when it gives you peace of mind in the near future, you may see the value in it.
Some examples of finishing unfinished business could be:
- Doing chores
- Finishing an assignment that you have been procrastinating
- Calling someone that you intended to call
- Making appointments for the things that you intended to do
Show your future self some love by not procrastinating on these tasks that you know you need to do. Making an effort to avoid procrastination is a huge gift to your future self. Giving yourself time to complete tasks and/or preventing them from building up can reduce anxiety and the chances of you feeling overwhelmed.
Gratitude
In my book, gratitude is a staple of self-care. To take your mind away from your fears and to experience the peace that comes with being intentionally grateful is priceless. You can do it on your own terms and you can find inspiration anywhere.
I think that gratitude has been made to feel as if your job is to acknowledge someone else’s lack and show your appreciation. While that is definitely one way to do it, you could try acknowledging the things that you wouldn’t normally think about, like the lack of potholes in the road, or you could appreciate the things that you would not want to live without, like clean air.
Gratitude has always given me a sense of peace and I think that more people would benefit from trying it.
Meditate
As someone with major symptoms of ADHD, meditation did not feel like something that I could achieve, especially anything longer than 30 seconds. My mind seems to wander the most when I intend for it to be quiet and focused.
The key to meditation is to be kind to yourself and bring your mind back to whatever you are meant to focus on. Some people are afraid of their thoughts, but when you become acquainted with them, they really are not as bad as they seem.
Meditation gives you confidence that you do have power over your thoughts and that you can experience a sense of tranquility. Setting time aside to focus on yourself and your breathing can remove you from the stresses of the outside world and can give you new perspectives.
If you liked this post, you’ll love these:
- Starting from Zero | Best Ways to Set Yourself Up for Success
- How to Stop Overthinking and Take Back Control of Your Life
- How to show yourself love on Valentine’s Day
Budget / Plan
Strangely enough, I find budgeting to be a great way to relieve my stress. Sometimes, we all could use a reminder of our financial boundaries to be able to know what we have available to us.
Looking at my budget is also a reassurance that I do have the means to control my money and that it is not something that just slips through my fingers.
I think that we could all find peace, even if we do not have money, knowing the condition that we are in financially. By avoiding it, your mind could over or undercompensate for your spending and create stress for you later when the numbers fail to match up.
Plan a nice meal for yourself (doesn’t need to be homemade, but can be homemade too)
This is one of the first things that comes to people’s minds when they think of Valentine’s Day. I am glad that we are all in the same headspace.
There is something special about food in general, especially food that you do not get to experience regularly.
If you are in the mood to try a new dish or cook for yourself, this could be a great way to eat a special meal. If you prepare it, you’ll know all of the work that went into making it.
Food is always a good choice when it comes to accompanying your self-care.
![love on valentines day](https://thrivingindependently.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/completion-683x1024.png)
Solo Valentine’s Day Essentials
Here are some things that you can do by yourself to enjoy your own company.
Conclusion
I think that the main purpose of self-care is to set yourself up for success in the future. Dealing with the issues that you have now or maintaining your well-being are investments of time, energy, and money into your future.
You may see some of the impacts of your efforts now, but you likely won’t see any significant change or results until you are far enough ahead that you can look back.
When you look back on the decisions that you make, you might remember the trials and tribulations that you endured to get where you are, but you will definitely remember the monumental changes or work that you put in to get where you are.
Our position in life is something that is easy to take for granted. It is something that we experience daily, and we forget the privileges that we take part in.
For example, someone without children may not know the value of silence and sleeping in. While a parent may forget what it is like to experience loneliness.
Showing yourself love on Valentines Day (or any other day) is essential. It’s all about caring for your present and future self by satisfying your needs and addressing your concerns.