Celebrating Singles Awareness Day Together

Every February 14th, Singles all over America are subjected to the mushy sappiness that is the holiday for lovers. What a crock! Everyone dressed in pink and red, hearts adorning the shelves, chocolates and roses everywhere. Who needs to see that, especially when they're single? Given that Valentine's Day leads to an increase in suicides, you'd think that by now somebody was more aware of the single people during this holiday. Well maybe they are! Welcome to Singles Awareness Day! For you, and for other people who are single, there's no reason to get wrapped up in all of the sweet garbage of this holiday. What's wrong with being single, after all?

February has a way of making singles feel as though they don't matter in the scheme of things, but rest assured: Single people are just as important as those mushy saps involved in relationships this year.

You're single, and maybe you're miserable this year on February 14th. Everyone around you is celebrating with pink and red hearts and you're irritated with how cheerful all of it is. Doesn't anybody think about the single people in the world? Why does this one day have to single you out and make you feel isolated from the crowd? You're not in love and you don't see yourself falling in love within the next few weeks. This holiday doesn't celebrate love! It makes single people depressed and lonely, and all you really want is to crawl under a rock until Valentine's Day is over, so you don't have to think about it any more.

Maybe you're perpetually single, always alone and you can't remember the last time that you celebrated with another person in a romantic way. If you're bitter and you're angry, Singles Awareness Day (done right) is the perfect way to improve your mood and remind you to feel good about yourself on Valentine's Day!

Some people may not recognize a difference between the two, but Mother Theresa once said something to the effect that she would always be happy to attend a pro-peace gathering, but she'd never attend an anti-war rally. Positive thinking has a strong effect on the mind, and when you frame your thoughts in a positive way, you're allowing positive things to come in your direction. Instead of celebrating anti-anything, you should be considering celebrating something worth celebrating: The joys of being single. If you re-frame your thinking, you're more likely to spend this day being happy instead of feeling sorry for yourself and risking falling into the typical February depression.

Additionally, celebrating Singles Awareness Day allows you to consider doing something for somebody else this Valentine's Day instead of focusing on your own misery. You can make things happen for yourself and potentially improve the mood and/or life of somebody else who doesn't have the same reasons you do to be happy this year.

Celebrating Singles Awareness Day allows good things to come into your life, but focusing on anti-Valentine's Day may simply contribute to misery. The choice, of course, is yours; Some people seemingly prefer to be miserable over choosing happiness when the two opportunities are presented to them. You'll find plenty of information on anti-Valentine's parties floating around the Internet if that's how you choose to celebrate.

• Celebrate by doing something adventurous. Being in a relationship sometimes ties you down, so there's nothing wrong with doing something adventurous while you're single!
• Celebrate by looking after yourself and celebrating self love this Singles Awareness Day. What do you love about yourself and why does it matter?
• Celebrate by doing something nice for somebody else. Why not do what you can to boost the mood of somebody who's doing worse than you are?

The main point of Singles Awareness Day is not to be bitter. You can remind your coupled friends that you exist without treating them with bitterness. There's no real need to make a point of your broken heart, just of your single status. Being single can be fun! Why not point this out to people who you feel are too wrapped up in being in a relationship? Other singles, in particular, might benefit from having the opportunities to engage in activities you can't do if you're in a relationship with someone. This is a great time to have a lot of fun, so make the most of it instead of wallowing in self-pity.

You have a few options for how to effectively celebrate Singles Awareness Day.

If you have trouble resisting bitterness, then Anti-Valentine's Day may be the better choice for you, as it celebrates the bitterness that you feel as a single person on February 14th. Be aware, however, that this may not boost your mood and may leave you feeling worse than when you started. Doing something for another person or celebrating self love are better options than wallowing!

Did you know that February 10-16, 2014 is Random Acts of Kindness week? What better time to stretch your giving muscles by doing something kind for another person! Can you think of a better way to celebrate Singles Awareness Day than by doing something nice for somebody else?

Most importantly, be aware of the singles around you. One of the most important things that you can do for the people in your life who don't have relationships this February 14th is to be aware of the fact that they are, in fact, single. If you're also single, this is a great opportunity to use one another as a means of support. Since this is a time of year that many people suffer with depression, showing your single friends that you understand how they feel could be a matter of life and death. This may not seem much like celebrating, but it's a darn good start, and it beats wallowing in misery with an anti attitude.

Many singles will want to do more than passively wait for the holiday to end, and therefore, you should try to think of some way to use the day to promote love in a general sense. Romantic love isn't the only kind of love that exists in the world and you can celebrate other types of love by getting a group of friends together and involving yourself in community.

The most important thing when celebrating this day as a single is to make sure that you do something to make it fun. Whether you're volunteering at a soup kitchen or running a Valentine's marathon with your friends, find something to do that you and your friends can enjoy doing together. Don't sit at home doing nothing and then blame the day for your depression: Valentine's Day isn't making you depressed; Loneliness is making you depressed. If you get out there and put yourself in a position to enjoy the relationships you have, you're likely to feel less alone this February 14th. So help somebody else out, or do something fun for yourself!

The video at left is from a RAK Week flash mob last year. What fun that it should fall at the same time of year! Surely you can come up with some ways to celebrate random acts of kindness while also celebrating Singles Awareness Day. Why not deliver notes of love and encouragement to other singles, or better yet, to people who have lost loved ones? Nursing homes are amazing resources for this!