February 13, 2012
By Janet Farley
It’s the month of love.
According to various sources, this Valentine’s Day
- nearly 1 billion cards professing love, promoting marital tolerance, or cracking snarky pick-up lines will be exchanged. One-third of those cards will come with a gift;
- about 35 million heart-shaped boxes of chocolate will be sold and 110 million roses, mostly red, will be purchased and delivered. On average, consumers will spend about $77 each on the holiday;
- teachers will receive the most cards, followed by children, mothers, wives, and sweethearts; and
- sixty-four percent of spouses (relative translation: men) will not make plans in advance for a romantic Valentine’s Day with their significant others.
Clearly, something must be done about that last bit of trivia.
Instead of waiting around for Cupid to shoot some sense into your hubby, why not take control of the situation yourself?
Here are 10 proven ways to spoil yourself on Valentine’s Day or at any other time. You deserve it.
1. Log out. Literally. Give your eyes and your Facebook friends a break. Instead of surfing, go shopping. Go for a run. Reintroduce yourself to your family. Play an old-fashioned board game. Resist the temptation to check your email or your eBay auctions. Be strong. Live a little so you can go back online and rant about it later.
2. Get a massage. Not purely luxurious, massages can reduce aches and pains. A good masseuse can help you improve your range of motion, reduce fatigue, and calm your mind. Massages also alleviate age-related disorders (e.g., arthritis), enhance your quality of sleep, and boost your overall immunity.
3. Sequester yourself. Juries do it all the time, why can’t you? Arrange to have one hour or one day that belongs to no one but you. Spend the time doing something that brings you pure happiness and zero self-criticism. Fancy yourself an amateur photographer? Spend the time taking shots of your favorite subjects. Love to sweat? Hit the gym or the local park sans cellphone and let the rain begin.
4. Shop till you drop. Choo, Blahnik, Jacobs, Chanel, and Prada. Repeat. Sex and the City might be over, but that doesn’t mean you still can’t channel your inner Carrie Bradshaw. Whether you safely window-shop or boldly ante up the cold, hard cash, one thing is certain: Retail therapy is a treat.
5. Explore your neighborhood. Even if it’s just around the corner, check out your current digs. Too often, we gloss over the beauty and adventure in our communities. The perfect restaurant or hiking trail might be right under your nose.
6. Schedule a makeover. Get a facial, manicure, pedicure, and new haircut all in the same day. Yep. That’s right. All in the same day, diva.
7. Just say no. You’re a nice guy and have a hard time saying no when someone asks a favor. Just for today, say no, and feel the power of free time course through your veins.
8. Get out of your comfort zone. Do something you’ve always wanted to do but didn’t have the time or the nerve to try. Take a rock-climbing course. Enroll in a scuba course. Tap into the artist within. Boldly move in a new direction, and see where it leads you.
9. Buy a lottery ticket. You never know. Today could be your lucky day.
10. Daydream. Imagine your life exactly as you would like it. What would it look like? What job would you have? Where would you travel? What would you do? Pamper yourself with the shameless act of daydreaming. Don’t be surprised if you find yourself figuring out how to make that dream a reality.
About the author: Janet Farley is author of two new forthcoming books, The Military Spouse’s Employment Guide: Smart Job Choices for Mobile Lifestyles (Impact Publications, 2011) and Quick Job Search for Transitioning Service Members: Seven Steps to Landing a Good Job Fast (Jist Publishing, 2012). Visit her website at www.janetfarley.com. Follow her @SmartJobChoices and @mil2civguide on Twitter.
Copyright Janet Farley and Military Officers Association of America. All rights reserved.