Does Valentine's Day bring challenges for you? Have you had it up to HERE with flower bouquets, cards, jewelry advertisements - the whole Madison Avenue message that if we were only beautiful enough, thin enough, tall enough, smart enough, and - dare I say it, BLONDE enough - that that knight in shining armour would be arriving - well, by midnight at least?
How many of us have purchased Valentine's Day candy, even half-priced the day after, just for the sake of having it?
How many of us have comforted ourselves - for whatever troubles we are suffering - by eating out of one of those heart-shaped boxes, or unwrapping calorie dense candies from red foil wrappers?
Let's put the brakes on! Take a breath. Valentine's Day is a day of sadness for many people! Just as with the Christmas season, Valentine's Day announces to the world when we are without partners, when we don't "qualify" to have a partner, etc.
The expectations can be staggering. What if you do have a partner and he/she doesn't acknowledge Valentine's Day at all? How should you acknowledge the day?
We recommend that you take a page from our Holiday Program advice: buy your own Valentine - the one you really want. (Provided it's not damaging food, and provided that your kids are taken care of!)
Find a non-food reward to celebrate the meaning of Valentine's Day as a day of love, including love of yourself! (If you have no ideas, think "spa.") Humph.
Be alert to the invitations for sabotage that swirl around us in this season. Take a breath, and thank yourself for the outstanding efforts you extend on your own behalf.
Happy Valentine's Day.
We're all in this together.
Linda Gromko, MD
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