"Valentine Wanted: apply within"

With all the red and pink in the stores these days I felt it was only fitting that I had a post about Valentine's Day, even amidst the Soca Scoring Session on the blog...

These past two days have been melancholy for me after I received news that my first boyfriend/ "highschool sweetheart" died on Sunday. So naturally my mind went down memory lane... I remember when I met him; he was wearing a T-shirt that said "Valentine Wanted: apply within" and I started to think on that...

Some of us may already be in a tizzy trying to find a Valentine, spend entirely too much on a gift or figure out what we should do for that special someone. On the other hand, some of us are probably thinking "baahhh hambug" or " this lovey, dovey thing is crap!" Whichever side of the coin you're on, I think we can all agree that we should not just wait for one day a year to express our love for others. But what about ourselves?

Before we go out in search of a Valentine, we must first love ourselves. How can you love someone else, if you do not first love yourself? While the shirt-makers may have had another connotation for "Valentine Wanted: apply within" I feel that in today's world it should have said " Valentine Wanted? Apply within!"

During this time (and in life, generally) we are often focused on how our actions can tell, show or let someone else know how we feel about them, and we often forget ourselves. This is when I think on "Valentine Wanted? Apply within!" 

Too often, I hear people say they have no Valentine or they are looking for someone to love them... Focus on you this Valentine's Day! Make a commitment to work on the relationship you have with yourself, learn what you are all about and what you want out of life, before you allow someone else to choose for you. Love yourself enough to do what is right. Love yourself enough to let others live and love.

I lost someone who will forever be a part of my life's story, because someone did not love himself.