A bunch of my co-workers got flowers at work on Monday (each one was individually congratulated and fawned over, which they deserved).  Everyone was sportin’ red or pink shirts (myself included).  Many people walked around in a stupor all day, drunk off of love and chocolate (I had no chocolate – damn you bridal diet).  Some people swore off the holiday claiming it was a “commercial holiday” or a “Hallmark holiday” or just a “waste of money”.

So, who’s right?

All of those people are right, and at the same time there is no right answer.

It’s all about doin’ your own thing.

If you and your schnookums love to surprise each other on Valentine’s Day, it ain’t nobody’s business to tell you that it’s a waste of time or money.  Sure – to them, it may be a waste, but here’s a news flash:  they’re. not. you.

And if you and your babe vow to love each other equally 8,765 hours of every damn year and that no day is more special than the others, then you get to enjoy that.  Guess what?  It’s your life – no one else’s.  You rule the roost.  Go and love each other equally for 365 1/4 days of the year and own it.

And if you think flowers or surprises or spending money on frivolous heart-shaped hot pink fuzzy objects is just plain dumb, then rock that out.  Boycott Saint Valentine with everything you’ve got.  Avoid pink or red at all costs.  Tell your significant other you love them, but for no reason in particular.  You can do that.  That’s you and that’s cool.

People are different.  Different things make different people happy.  Trying to force your opinions about what is right and what is wrong on someone else’s life is a waste of time.  Especially when their views and opinions may be the exact opposite – and very rightly so, because they are a different person.  Who would want everyone to be like them?  That’d be weird and boooo-rring.  Then, it’d be like you were dating yourself, and that’d be … well, that’s okay (no judgment).

Focus on yourself.  Do your own thing.  Why mirror someone else’s life or interests or force someone to mirror your interests or opinions?  What’s right to you may be very, very wrong to them.  Spending $3.99 on a Valentine’s Day card that will see the bottom of a trash can at some point in it’s limited existence may seem unpractical or dumb to you, but it might just be a special tradition for another person.  Leave them alone.  Focus on you.

Don’t worry about what anyone else does.  Make your own decisions.  Find your own interests.  Create your own traditions.  Live your own life.  If you want to spend $3.99 on a silly little card with two puppies nuzzled up in each other’s scruff to make your boyfriend/girlfriend/mom/dad/husband/wife/friend/dog happy, then do it.  You could spend the day at the spa getting a massage with your honey, or have a quiet night in, cozy by the fire playing bingo or Trivial Pursuit over glasses of red wine. The unique way that you connect to that special love in your life is the way those precious memories will be remembered by both of you. However you enjoy a holiday or special anniversary, don’t fret over it – just do it. Enjoy yourself as well as your loved ones.

As for me, I’m all about the traditional roses and cards on Valentine’s Day.  I happily received a dozen reds yesterday.  They’ll be sitting on my desk for the next week or so.  Every time I look at them, they remind me that nothing is perfect in this world except for G (I guess I’m still in that V-day stupor).  The flowers brighten my day, they make me smile, and, hey, they smell delicious.

So the flowers included that Valentine’s Day mark-up and so they’ll die in a week, but I won’t remember the money that was spent.  I’ll remember the tradition, the feeling, the love, and the stud that gave them to me.

As long as you do something that makes you smile and that makes you happy, do your own thing.  Don’t worry about anyone or anything else.

So, tell me, what did you do for Valentine’s Day?