Survive Valentine's Day Alone

Valentine's Day comes but once a year. For some it is a day of fairy tale romance, but for others it is a time where they may feel more alone than ever. If you're one of this year's many singles on Valentine's day, don't despair, you can survive it in style!

To survive Valentine's Day alone you will need:

One sense of humor

A tablespoon of willingness to embrace your independence and love yourself

A pinch of a sense of adventure, and

Friends to taste

Step One: Affirm to yourself that it is okay to be alone. Acknowledge that Valentine's Day is a largely commercial holiday, and your status of being single hood on this one day is not a reflection of your worth, or of how loved you may be.

Step Two: Make the day special for you. Valentine's Day is about love after all, so think about what it is you really want. Have you been putting off going skydiving? Or perhaps your tastes are a little more restrained and you've just always wanted to take an art class. Valentine's Day is an excellent day to show yourself that you matter.

Step Three: Realize that you are not alone. There are quite literally millions of people alone on Valentine's Day. You are one of the majority, even if it does seem that all your friends are hooked up, shacked up, or otherwise emotionally incarcerated.

Step Four: Get real. Relationships are hard work, and can be a pain in the butt. You are far better off taking it slow and waiting for the right person than rushing headlong into the arms of anyone with five dollars to spare for a box of candy.

Step Five: Get even more real. Your friends and associates may be cooing with delight over the flowers gracing their desks, but remember that after Valentine's Day is over they will be back having the same relationship issues and difficulties they had before.

Step Six: Enjoy yourself. Whether that is by going out with friends, or staying in with your favorite movies, make sure that you don't spend so much as a minute moping. It may be Valentine's Day, but this is your life, and its up to you to live it to the fullest every day, no matter what the card and candy companies say.

Valentine's Day can be a great day to go out to single's bars with friends. The environment is target rich with other singles, and you can have a great time meeting new people, having fun, and perhaps striking up a new relationship that might just result in a card the size of your torso next Valentine's Day.

There are several theories on the origin of Valentine's Day. The most popular one is that Valentine was a Roman Priest who got on the wrong side of Emperor Claudius II, who decided that single men were better soldiers, and decided to outlaw marriage. Valentine went against the decree and married couples in secret for a short while before being caught and thrown in jail, where he is supposed to have sent the first Valentine in the form of a love letter to the jailer's daughter. As the story goes, he signed the letter "From your Valentine." Valentine was later tortured and put to death at the Emperor's orders. Therefore, asking people to be one's Valentine is really asking them to me your hopelessly love lorn condemned prisoner. When you think of it that way, being alone on Valentine's day isn't such a bad thing after all.