Alone on Valentine’s Day – what to do? Feb. 14 Glenda Russell Are you finding yourself alone on Valentine’s Day? If you do and you get anxious and start to think it’s the end of the world, Glenda Russell, a psychologist with CU-Boulder’s Counseling and Psychological Services, says to take a moment and try to get some perspective, and stop worrying because it isn’t the end of the world. CUT 1 “For people who are the alone the first question I think they need to ask themselves is what messages they’re giving themselves about the meaning of their being alone. Often times people get in to catastrophizing messages about this means I’m not loveable. This means I’m never going to be loved. This means it’s the end of the world. Well almost never it does any of those things.” (:19) But it’s not just single people who sometimes get anxious around Valentine’s Day. Russell says even though the idea of having special days to acknowledge relationships is a good practice sometimes, due to various reasons, couples also can find the day stressful. CUT 2 “You know it really does make sense that we would devote some days each year to making it a practice to acknowledge relationships and to acknowledge the good parts of relationships and that’s a nice opportunity that Valentine’s Day presents (: 15) At the same time because the timing is not necessarily chosen by individuals or couples it can come with a lot of stress around how are we doing in our relationship right now.” (: 26) She says one way for couples to avoid stress around Valentine’s Day is to keep the lines of communication open. CUT 3 “A lot of that stress could be taken care of if people would have a discussion. If two members of a couple, say, would have a discussion about how do we want to do Valentine’s Day? (:09) What could we actually do that really fits our relationship, who we are as individuals and what we want to express to each other? (:17) Anxiety or not, Valentines Day is a moneymaker for florists and other merchants. According to eNation, an estimated 233 million roses were purchased on Valentine’s Day last year. More than half the gifts given this year will be candy, according to the National Retail Foundation, spending $1.6 billion. Men will spend an average of $175 on the holiday this year, compared to an average of $88 for women. -CU-