What is your Valentine’s Day mantra?

Valentine's Day is best celebrated unplanned; the anticipation kills the romance and spontaneity is fun!

It’s that time of year again.

We’ve said goodbye to last year with nasty indulgences and ludicrous excesses. We’ve kicked off the New Year with the detoxed ‘new year, new me’ mantra and by the end of January, we’ve broken all our New Year resolutions. Yes, it’s the time when the New Year shine has faded and the New Year blues are slowly setting in.

As if things weren’t bad enough, we have one thing to pull us out of our misery (not): Valentine’s Day!

It’s one of those love it or hate it issues that people have polarised views on – so, love it or hate it, there’s no way you can escape it.

Love is in the air

A couple of years ago, Mr Burger had a Valentine’s Day deal at Boat Basin. I’m sure things have come a long way since then. In London it’s a completely different ball game. Ghost, featuring Swayze circa 1990, is being shown at a special screening event at Leicester Square – a la ‘snuggle up with your loved one over a sappy movie this Valentine’s’. If that wasn’t enough, lastminute.com, Amazon, Body Shop, Apple and numerous other brands are bombarding my inbox with “great gift ideas to please your special someone this Valentine’s”.

Good and bad V-days

I have always had mixed feelings about Valentine’s Day. I’ve had my moments where Valentine’s Day is oh-my-God-the-best-day-in-the-world; unhappy moments where my feelings are heart-break-sucks-I-want-to-kill-myself and shred-heart-holding-teddy-bears-to-pieces; and empowered moments where I-am-super-woman who-needs-a-man-when-I-am-so-awesome-I-can-be-my-own-Valentine?

Single or ready to mingle?

Is Valentine’s Day worse for couples or singles? It’s not black and white; there are so many different types of couples and singles. There are the happy couples, the adjusting/compromising couples, the unhappy couples and the soon-to-not-be-a-couple couples.

In singlehood, you’ll find the single and ready to mingle, the single I’m-so-desperate-haven’t-gotten-any-in-ages, the single and jaded-lost-all-faith-in-love and the single I’m-content-I-don’t-need-anyone.

Expectations exceed celebrations

The quality of how good or bad the day is does not depend on your relationship status. I think the thing that spoils supposedly monumental days like Valentine’s, New Year and birthdays is the sheer planning and effort that goes into it. You make plans and keep on building them up in your head thinking “This will be the best Valentine’s Day ever!” When the day eventually rolls in, nothing is as good as you imagined because in all honesty, reality barely ever surpasses the imagination.

Go with the flow

The key to having a wonderful Valentine’s Day this year is to put in minimal effort and planning. Decide who your Valentine is and let that be the only thing you know. So what if Aylanto and Flo are not taking dinner reservations when you call in at 5pm? Play it by the ear, have a Valentine’s pizza instead!

The spontaneity will make it fun and adventurous; something people in Pakistan have forgotten lately with everything depressing that surrounds us. However, if you’re a guy, make sure you get your special lady some equally special flowers. Enough of the roses, try some daisies, tulips or lilies instead.

What about me? I will be promiscuous this year and have three Valentine dates. This one’s for you Nausheen, Madiha and Sana – this year my Valentine’s mantra is “who needs men when you have such awesome girlfriends?”