Monday, February 16, 2009

What I learnt from Valentines day this year

Having been surronded by the hype that is Valentines day for weeks now I was well and truly sick of it all by last week Friday. Cynical you may say but I'm not, I do still believe in love and romance and hopefully one day will find my own.

What got to me was that I had watched friends and people I care about do things so out of character I wasn't sure if I wanted to laugh or cry.
I saw a couple spend an absolute fortune on getting all sappy and romantic and treating each other, yet the rest of the year they can hardly stand to be in the same room as one another.
I saw a friend who is desperately unhappy put on a show, for his kids and the people around him, just so they dont suspect just how unhappy he really is.
I saw another friend put on this big show of how much he loves his wife while his girlfriend sat and watched.
I saw another couple I know put on this whole romantic loving show just so his daughter doesn't realise just how much trouble their relationship is in.
I even saw my own brother the least romantic person I know get caught up in the hype and plan this uber romantic evening for his new girlfriend, setting a standard that he will be hard pressed to keep.

The common thread lies, deciet and dishonesty not love as one would have expected.

In fact the only thing I saw that was remotely loving this last week was from the friend who realised that his relationship was over and walked away, giving his baby son the chance to grow up with 2 sets of potentially happy parents instead of parents that eventually end up hating each other.

Having grown up with the parents who ended up hating each other but wouldn't walk away because of what ever reasons myself I know just how much love and caring it must have taken for him to do what he did and I for one will be behind him 100%

But what I found funniest and maybe even the saddest was the fact that people get swept up in this one day as if it is the only day of the year you can tell someone you care, that the other 364 days are just there to build up to the next Valentines day and very little effort is made in those 364 days to show those you care about how much they mean to you

I for one will now be making a concerted effort to tell those I care for just how much they mean to me. I will not wait for the days of the year that is deemed acceptable to show that you care, I will be making any day I want my Valentines day. So yes I will be sharing my love, my life, my lessons and even my laughter with those I care about every one of those 364 other days and maybe even on Valentines day as well

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