My Thoughts: Celebrate You This Valentine's Day

Four days to go until Valentine's Day.

So, that's plenty of time to start planning something.

Something special for the one you love. YOU .

I don't hate Valentine's Day, but I will forever be as skeptical of it as I am willing to participate in it. I also know from personal experience that it's a day that can cause as many heavy hearts as happy ones. And often it's the worst kind of disappointment; that which is felt to be out of our control, i.e. brought about by the actions of another person. I suppose you should therefore see this post as a way to reclaim a bit of that control and happiness, because I think we're all a lot more capable of celebrating ourselves than we realise.

How to celebrate YOU this Valentine's Day

Here are some ways you can celebrate (and spoil) yourself rotten on Valentine's Day, or Celebrate-Yourself-Day as I'm going to call it.

Take your pick which one you want to do. Me, I'm going for pie, staying off Facebook and giving myself hi-5s!

  • Wake up to a Post-It note saying "Smile".
  • Make sure the first thing you hear is the sound of one of your favourite songs. If you're completely stuck for ideas I recommend kicking off with this playlist.
  • Breathe in the smell of that first coffee (or tea) deeply. And treasure the first sip. None of the others that follow will be as sweet or soothing.
  • Pour yourself a bowl of your favourite cereal; the one with all the sugar in that your mum never let you eat.
  • Purchase flowers a few days before Celebrate-Yourself-Day so that when your eyes finally adjust to being awake one of the first things you'll see is a collection of blooming treats.
  • Spend an extra 30 seconds in the shower. Count them down one by one. You'll be smiling by the time you hit 3-0.
  • Wear that outfit that makes you feel more confident/sophisticated/slim/curvy/muscley/sexy/like Beyonce. Delete as appropriate.
  • If you're lucky enough to be able to listen to music at work go on Spotify and listen to your favourite album. If you're not in the mood for that then try this playlist I made.
  • Text five people who might need a hello from someone they love, i.e. you. You'll feel fantastic by the time that last message is sent.
  • Stay off Facebook all day. Spend that time you save (minutes? hours?) deciding or thinking about where in the world you'd like to travel to next.
  • Spend more money (or if you work from home, time) on your lunch than you would normally. I'm thinking of going for sushi... or maybe some greasy, too-spicy noodles.
  • Buy/make cake. Celebrate-Yourself-Day is a day for cake.
  • Do not work while you eat your lunch. Read a book, read a magazine, read your favourite blog or bookmark this to read. It's my Celebrate-Yourself-Day gift to you. (Let me know if you liked it...)
  • Get a take-away coffee and if it's from the shop that insists on asking you for your name, give them the name you always wanted to have when you were a child. I'll bet by the time you're holding the coffee in your hand, you'll find yourself missing the name you have - that's a GOOD thing. 
  • When your work is done for the day, go to the nearest bathroom and hi-5 the mirror. Twice if it wasn't hard enough the first time.
  • Spend five minutes staring at something you like. It could be a nice view, that piece of cake you bought, or a photo of a happy memory. Five whole minutes doing nothing, but looking at that.
  • Smile at at least one stranger on your way home or during a walk around the block
  • Eat pie for dinner. Or pizza. Or curry. Or something else as rich, creamy and bad for your arteries.
  • Wrap your pyjamas in a hot water bottle ten minutes before you go to bed.
  • After you've watched your favourite film or four episodes of your latest favourite TV show, open the love letter that you're about to write to yourself. The one that lists 10 things you really like about yourself. Alternatively, if you didn't bother to do this in advance like I'm suggesting that you do it by the time Celebrate-Yourself-Day (formerly known as Valentine's Day) is over. Look I've already done mine... and this is a much harder exercise than it looks.

Oh and your punishment for not doing it earlier? You now have to list 20 things you really like about yourself. GO!

(And I suppose if you have someone to do this for also, you can steal some of these ideas too. NewMan will be getting a few post-it notes, a lot of cake and a slice of my pie.)

What else do you think we should all do to celebrate the wonderful people we are?

Frances M. Thompson

Londoner turned wanderer, Frankie is an author, freelance writer and blogger. Currently based in Amsterdam, Frankie was nomadic for two years before starting a family with her Australian partner. Frankie is the author of three short story collections, and is a freelance writer for travel and creative brands. In 2017, she launched WriteNOW Cards, affirmation cards for writers that help build a productive and positive writing practice. When not writing contemporary fiction, Frankie shops for vintage clothes, dances to 70s disco music and chases her two young sons around Amsterdam.
Find Frankie on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, and Google+.

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