Single Awareness Day

     Para a versão em Português, clique aqui.
 
    One of the most irritating comercial celebrations must be Valentine's Day. The "Single Awareness Day" pun fits well the situation, in which we are forced to cope with Love being in the air everywhere we go. This year, living in the UK, I had to experience Valentines Day twice in 8 months, between the brazilian 12th of June and today, the 14th of February. I believe that the short amount of time and the fact that I actually had a boyfriend last year have made me quite thoughtful.
     

     Thinking about everything that I've ever been through, from the distance of experience, has made me realise how I've already allowed my needs to guide me to poor life choices. Relationships with bad endings weren't necessarily bad relationships, and every experience is an excellent opportunity for us to learn a lot about ourselves and others - but, maybe a little bit more thinking and pondering would have kept people from going forward in situations that were clearly made to step back. However, we are easily deceived by our eyes, and some situations just seem so ideal that we are not conscious enough to see the fragile base on which the love we believe to be building stands.
     

     It's this same need that saddens the lonely hearts on Valentine's Day. It's hard not to catch yourself staring blankly at your bedroom window after scrolling through your Facebook and Instagram feeds, questioning whether Mr. and Mrs. Right will ever come to you. And that's one serious issue, because a lot of very nice people are getting hurt in exchange of cheap gifts and late night "I love you" texts. And not only the young ones, I'm afraid.
     

     I've already heard so many speaking about the perks of being single and how important it is to enjoy this time of our lives, but most of them still don't quite get the point of it. I believe that human beings were created to be in groups, to live in pairs, but, at the end, we are individuals, above everything else. No one else is allowed inside your head, but yourself and God. And if you never learn how to turn yourself inside out, and know yourself, and love yourself, you can't possibly expect to do the same for others. Our collective coexistence is perfected in ourselves, more than in the midst of everyone, because good relationships are based in treating others the way we would like to be treated.
     

     And what would you like, anyway?