Can’t hurry love
Valentines Day - Valentines Danger?
February 6, 2008
Natalie Hilder
Is it just me, or has anyone else noticed that there is a collective grumpiness surrounding campus on Valentine’s Day? It’s almost like a physical force where this weird energy changes the way people act.
So what is Valentine’s Day to you? When you hear those two words do you roll your eyes and think: great, here we go again? Or do you jump for joy? Maybe you just love chocolate or maybe you don’t really see a difference between February 14 and 15.
However, for most people above age 12 that’s probably not the case. We are under endless pressures from our parents, the world and ourselves that give birth to expectations of immediate fulfillment and happiness.
On a more personal note: I have never actually had a boyfriend on Valentine’s Day. I’m also being completely honest when I say that I’ve never minded (don’t worry, I have other problems). Maybe that would be more difficult to say at age 29 instead of 19, but everyone needs to learn their value, no matter what their age. Your relationship status should not have the power to make or break your Valentine’s Day. As human beings, we are better than that.
Guest chapel speaker, Eric Sandras, put it well when he said that we shouldn’t find our identity in “what we do, what we have, or what people say about us.” Being the smartest, richest and the best looking is unattainable. Others will occasionally say negative things about us, whether they are true or false. They will say positive things too, but it doesn’t really matter because our value is not derived from a source that is fickle and can change in an instant.
We matter because of who and what we are. Our definition is something that lasts forever and no one has the power to take that away. It’s important for us to stop feeling the need to market ourselves in order to be accepted. It’s like a form of prostitution that doesn’t care about the real person, only about the prospect of what they can offer.
This day dedicated to love is sometimes misunderstood because it can open up sensitive areas or wounds that already exist. Valentine’s Day itself is not the problem, but the wrong frame of mind makes it serve as an unforgiving day designed to expose flaws. What we sometimes perceive as flaws may not really be flaws at all; we just fail to see what is actually worth having.
Most of us eventually want to find that one person – our soul mate, right? Not to minimize the magnitude of finding said soul mate, but if it’s really such a big deal and it’s so important to us, then why are we in such a hurry? Doesn’t a decision that has such enormous ramifications for your future life require effort fitting the occasion? If it were as easy and pain-free as buying a movie from Ebay, shouldn’t we also expect a similar result that might seem entertaining for a short time, but soon wear off because it lacks substance? Not to sound preachy, but if we centre ourselves in a greater purpose (like God if you a Christian), then nothing can compromise that identity, not even Valentine’s Day.
Now you go...
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