Valentine's Day- the ever losing battle

As some may of seen from last year, I am normally the 'Bah Humbug' type when it comes to Valentine's day. This is due to the fact that I have always been single at this time of year, and having couples being all coupley helped remind me that I was alone, and that there was no day to celebrate being single!

This year however, I have been with my boyfriend for 4 months, and was really excited about my first Valentine's day, until I realised we wouldn't actually see eachother Valentine's Day. We swapped presents yesterday, and he gave me a bunch of flowers today, which was incredibly sweet of him. I realised I didn't really need to see him that day, it wasn't that important. We all (whether in a relationship or not) need to be loving 365/366 days of the year, not just one.
It feels strange though. I have never hidden the fact that I am in a relationship, as I have never felt the need to. My friends know that I am with him, they know I haven't changed for the worse in the process, that they are still amazing in my eyes.
Today though, I felt like I couldn't really say that I love him publicly, for the fear of ridicule, being a hypocrite against my old self, or without the feeling that I have to apologise for being in a relationship.
Basically on Valentine's you cannot win. If you are single, you think you are missing out, and you get the pity party, if you aren't, you feel compelled to keep quiet about it.
I wonder why we all put so much importance on this one day. Why do we feel we need to declare our love on this one particular day? Why is it when we are single that we have so much hate for this day?
Maybe one year, we should all ignore Valentine's. Then ironically there would be more love and respect going on with eachother.
Until this happens, Happy Valentine's Day to you all! :) xxx

Learning to be a Palm tree

I have had a very inspired morning with a very inspirational woman. I have been having some of life's little issues lately, and she gave me a wonderful way of dealing with the problem.
I am a very stubborn person by nature, (I like to think it's my Taurean roots coming through) and I used to find it was a sign of weakness to just give in. She proved to me that giving a little, and compromise is also a sign of strength. She used the example of a Palm tree (which for those who know me is a funny co-incidence). The palm tree is one of the tallest trees, yet for it to stay upright, it needs to sway in the wind. For me, the western equivalent is the willow tree- tough, but very pliant. Neither of these trees allow themselves to be broken easily, yet is still pliant. This is where I now get my inspiration. I need to stay tough, not break, yet still have the option to go with the flow, compromise, and carry on.
What I also have realised, is that for me to stand up for myself, for me to stand strong, I need to truly love myself. I need to prepare myself, and decide for myself what I am going to do in situations.
Once I have that self love back again, then I can move forward with my life.

Little baby steps are the way forward. One step at a time :)