If you think this article is a love letter to profess my love to my valentine… then you are partially right and partially wrong.
Before I go on and on….
I want to ask you, how was your valentine’s day? Did you gift something to your loved ones?
Did you profess your love and affection for them? Or are you one of those who does not like to celebrate this day at all?
In any case, Valentine’s Day is hugely popular around the world as the day of love. As a day where you go to great lengths to prove that you love and adore your loved ones. You call your special people your Valentine on this day.
But have you ever tried being your Valentine?
Yes, you heard it right. Have you ever tried to be your Valentine? Loving yourself and being your special date. You might call it just another special form of self-care. But it is a day where you learn to show love to yourself first and then comes your loved ones. Even if you don’t have any special ones then celebrating and appreciating yourself works well for your mental health.
How can you be your valentine?
1. Celebrate yourself-
It is often found that we are hard on ourselves compared to how we feel about others. We take criticism to heart and that decreases our self-esteem. We start to compare ourselves with others and no matter what we do it is not enough. It becomes a trigger for mental health issues. So why not try being less hard on yourself. Learn to appreciate yourself more and start celebrating yourself. Accept that you are doing the best you can and start celebrating yourself and all that you do.
2. Analyse yourself-
You might be at the worst period of your life or your best but analyzing your journey helps. Look at your journey and analyse what you did. You might have made some mistakes and might have made some wise decisions. The outcome of some decisions are painful while others may be joyful but it is still important to analyse. For when you analyse your life you might realise how far you came in life and how far you still have to go. It shows how you have survived through some of the tough situations and how much are you capable of.
3. Take a break from social media-
Social media makes us see things that may not be true. It negatively impacts our mental health by tricking us into thinking that others are having a better life than us. Social media on valentine’s day may be a bad idea so instead, try turning it off for some time. Take a break from social media apps for a day and spend time with yourself. Be in touch with your reality and start accepting it.
4. Gift yourself-
When we talk about gifts we usually think about giving them to others. From this time, think about yourself too. Start gifting yourself something which you want, need or anything else that you can think of. Gift yourself that perfume that you liked or go for that pottery class that you talked about. A gift for yourself may also look like taking a decision that you were sceptical about. Like going for therapy or seeking support. Gift yourself whatever that you feel like as you deserve to be pampered too.
Being your Valentine is not something that you can do only on February 14. You can be your Valentine 365 days a year. Loving yourself is a gift that all of us should gift ourselves. We can love others and show our compassion while being secure in our bodies and mind. When we are satisfied with ourselves then we feel like celebrating our relations with others.
So, my dear Valentines, don’t ever stop being your own Valentines.
image source- www.pixabay.com
