5 Tips for being single and satisfied on valentine's day
By Yolanda Shoshana (aka "Shoshi")
Valentine’s Day has become a day of gloom for single women across the globe. Watching other women get gifts, flowers, and kisses may just make you want to roll your eyes and cringe. Instead of grabbing a gallon of ice cream and sitting in the dark wondering why you are still single, get some chutzpah and reinvent what the day means to you.
1) Make it "Dinner and a Movie Night" - cook your favorite meal or if you want to really pamper yourself, order in. Then pour yourself some bubbly, turn the lights down low and put on a flick that you have been wanting to see. Enjoy spending time with you and only you. You will be amazed at how refreshed you feel the next morning.
2) Send a Valentine’s Day card to you- Girl, you know that you rock! Why not a love letter to yourself? Write what you want to hear about yourself. Do not hold back, it is the time to toot your own horn. This is a wonderful way to reaffirm your love of self.
3) Send yourself flowers- you don’t need someone to send you flowers, you can send them to yourself! Flowers always brighten up a room and leave a luscious smell in the air. Looking at something pretty all bring a smile to your face and that is what the day should be about.
4) Host a party for just you and the girls- don’t sit alone at home all bummed out. Get your single girlfriends together for a night of fun. You can do all the cooking or make it a potluck party. Top it off with wine and music to dance the night away.
5) Volunteer- Bringing love into someone else’s life will also fill your day with love and joy. Help make someone else’s Valentine’s Day better by volunteering at a non-profit or charity for the day, such as a battered women’s shelter, a soup kitchen or the Goodwill! Or drop off roses to be distributed to a nursing home – spread the love! Back to Top
Valentine's Day Factoids
The tradition of Valentine's Day goes back for centuries -- no, it's not just a "Hallmark Holiday"! Here are a few details about it's history:
15% of U.S. women send themselves flowers on Valentine's Day.
About 1 billion Valentine's Day cards are exchanged each year.
About 3% of pet owners will give Valentine's Day gifts to their pets.
In the Middle Ages, young men and women drew names from a bowl to see who their valentines would be. They would wear these names on their sleeves for one week. To wear your heart on your sleeve now means that it is easy for other people to know how you are feeling.
In the United States, 64 percent of men do not make plans in advance for a romantic Valentine's Day with their sweethearts.
It wasn't until 1537 that St. Valentine's Day was declared an official holiday. England's King Henry VIII declared February 14th a holiday.
Only the U.S., Canada, Mexico, France, Australia and the U.K. celebrate Valentine's Day.
Some people used to believe that if a woman saw a robin flying overhead on Valentine's Day, it meant she would marry a sailor. If she saw a sparrow, she would marry a poor man and be very happy. If she saw a goldfinch, she would marry a millionaire.
The 17th century a hopeful maiden ate a hard-boiled egg and pinned five bay leaves to her pillow before going to sleep on Valentine's eve. It was believed this would make her dream of her future husband.
Teachers will receive the most Valentine's Day cards, followed by children, mothers, wives, and then, sweethearts. Children ages 6 to 10 exchange more than 650 million Valentine's cards with teachers, classmates, and family members.
Instant Office Stress Relief
Feeling particularly cranky today? Here is an instant fix-it strategy to help relieve your hot mess and engender some good karma.
TIP: Go do something anonymous for someone in your office that is having a really hard time. Perhaps someone is going through a divorce, problems with the kids, illness of a spouse. Yes, you may terrible but paying attention to someone else in a compassionate way can instantly snap yourself out of your malaise. Leave some chocolate or flowers on their desk, a gift card from a nearby manicure place or bookstore, etc. Notice how that makes you feel. That doesn't do the trick? Up the ante and help yet another person - perhaps a homeless person you see regularly near your office. Still not quite there? Call a friend and ask them to plan for you to do something that evening that is out of your regular routine. Go to a lovely dinner at an exotic restaurant, stop at a French cafe and read a book or write a poem, or call a friend who you haven't spoken to for eons. Or take a bath and go to bed early! You deserve it . . . and wake up energized and refreshed. Take it easy on yourself and take it one step at a time . . . you are beautiful and brilliant, remember that!
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joyous deliberate living in 2008
By Jennifer Matthews, Organic Wisdom
Wow, it’s already February and time is flying by with work and play. Have your New Year’s resolutions and goals gone M.I.A.? Perhaps you didn’t even make any this year. What’s the point, right – do you feel like nothing ever really changes? Or maybe it’s not a good time right now because there is too much going on at work. We know you work really hard, but there always seems to be a perfect excuse lingering out there somewhere.
It's what I like to call the Season of Love. And in honor of Cupid, little red hearts and beautiful bunches of roses, I ask you, ARE YOU WILLING TO LOVE YOURSELF ENOUGH TO GET OUT OF YOUR OWN WAY?
The problem is not with making resolutions, setting goals or igniting our own heart’s desires but with how we get in our own way and don’t even know it. Making changes doesn’t have to be an all-consuming life struggle if we first create a solid foundation to stand upon.
As a Transformational Healer who specializes in energy medicine. I have found over the years that when people focus on achieving balance in these four areas of their lives they can make those changes that seem to have eluded them in the past. Allowing them to step out of mere survival and into joyous, deliberate living.
1. TIME
Are you a good steward of your time? Do you create stress around a goal or task to give it meaning? Do you invent things to do to avoid the important? How many times a day do check email? Could you go one day with any television, news or media? If you are one who always feels like there is never enough time in the day I encourage to go on a one-day media fast. No television, no magazines, no news, no Internet. I think you will be surprised how much time there really is in a day.
2. MONEY and FINANCE
Are the bills in your wallet neatly arranged? Do you know how much money is in your checking account? Do you know how much debt your have? Are your bills paid on time? Do you pay yourself first by putting at least 10% of your earnings into savings? If you are not easily and effortlessly managing the money you currently have then how can you possibly handle more?
3. SELF-CARE
Do you skip breakfast? Are you getting enough sleep (at least seven hours per night)? Do you numb out in front of the television every night? Every action we take (or don’t take) sends a message. When we skip a meal or don’t get enough sleep we are sending the message to our family, friends, co-workers and most importantly to ourselves, that “I am not a priority.“ If you don’t make yourself a priority, I guarantee you those around you won’t make you a priority either.
4. GRATITUDE
Do you want to have a good day? Then stop gossiping and quit complaining. These two actions suck your energy and your dim your spark of life. If you need to preface a statement with “please don’t repeat this” then it’s gossip and shouldn’t be said at all. Gossip divides us and feeds low self-esteem. And if you really want to have that good day, then stop complaining. Why focus on what isn’t working in your life? When we complain, not only are we focusing what isn’t working but we are asking our friends, family and colleagues to focus on it too. That is no fun and just gets us more of what we are complaining about.
Imagine how much fun and inspiring your day would be if everyone was sharing what was working for them and was communicating with each other in ways that build each other up instead of tearing each other down? How do I do this you ask? GRATITUDE. Next time you notice yourself complaining, stop and focus on something that is positive. I also encourage you to spend a few minutes each day acknowledging what was good about your day. It can be anything, do not get caught up looking for the extraordinary. If you have trouble thinking of something then be grateful for the warm bed you get to sleep in tonight, the roof over your head, your ten fingers and ten toes, the food in your refrigerator, the money in your wallet to pay for the food in your refrigerator, the beautiful flowers you saw on the way to work or the person who smiled at you when you really needed it. There is so much in this wonderful world to enjoy, to celebrate and to love about yourself and others if you are just willing see it.
Are you ready for joyous, deliberate living? If so, then please take me up on my very special offer of $50 off your first energy healing session. I offer in-person or phone sessions and the usual rate is $200 but thought April 1st, 2008 I am offering Modern Venus Ltd. readers the rate of $150.
As a transformational healer and energy medicine practitioner, I place my hands in your energy field and let it inform me as to what is stuck or out of balance in your chakras, energy field and aura. Then, drawing from several healing modalities, I channel an energy medicine that clears physical, mental and emotional blockages and clutter as well balancing the energy centers in and around the body. This process reconnects your mind and body with your spirit; your spark of life. My clients usually feel relaxed, lighter, and more peaceful when they are finished, often experiencing clarity, creative inspiration and more self-awareness. I also provide my clients with easy tools they can use in their everyday lives to help them maintain the integrity of their energy fields.
I am honored and grateful to Modern Venus Ltd. for inviting me to be apart of this February newsletter and I so look forward to assisting each of you in building a solid foundation that allows to create joyous, deliberate living.
Jennifer Matthews
ORGANIC WISDOM
917.796.2642
jennifer@organicwisdom.com
www.organicwisdom.com
Jennifer Matthews is a Transformational Healer and Spiritual Life Coach with a holistic approach to personal and professional growth. Combining the healing arts, energy medicine, spiritual practicality and her own life experience, Jennifer inspires her clients as they learn how to take complete control of their lives, shifting out of mere survival and into joyous, deliberate living. Working co-creatively with her clients, Jennifer helps them re-establish an empowered connection with their intuitive self, allowing for more clarity, self-awareness and self responsibility. She also provides her clients with practical tools that they can easily implement into their everyday lives for INSPIRED URBAN LIVING.
Jennifer currently shares her time between Los Angeles and New York and is available for both phone and in-person consultations.
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