TO ALL THE SINGLE PEOPLE ON FEBRUARY 14TH

Believe it or not, Valentine's Day is one of my favorite holidays. Although it's probably the most universally hated of special days on the calendar, I absolutely adore it. Candy and chocolate and flowers, pink and red everything. I'm sure everyone is convinced that Valentine's Day was just invented to make single people feel sorry for themselves and gawk at the couples with their dinner reservations, expensive gifts, and everything in between. But I'm here to tell you that being single on Valentine's Day is better than okay -- it's awesome! Think about your week. If it's anything like mine, your weekdays are packed with class, studying, eating, traveling between buildings, and hopefully an hour or two of Netflix. Your weekends are filled with friends, dancing, and hopefully sleeping in. In short, you are busy! So so busy you can't imagine squeezing in date nights with anyone besides your best friends, texting someone throughout the entire day, and everything in between. It's exhausting. The freedom of being single is that your time is just that -- yours. There's no compromising when you don't have to worry about someone else's schedule! Besides being incredibly busy, you're also most likely working hard towards your goals. Your single years are the most important when it comes to finding out what you want to do in life. There's no clouded judgment, no shortcuts, no skipping steps. It's all about you! Using your time to worry about yourself and your own journey to self-discovery allows for all of these opportunities to present themselves. Without the ability to know yourself inside and out, it's difficult to embrace your independence. In your journey to self-discovery, an important aspect of your personal endeavors is self-love. With all the confidence in the world, you can't be stopped. Without depending on someone to love you, you find that the only person you have at the end of the day is you. If you come to this realization, you'll have no trouble seeing why self-love and everything that it leads to is so important. It all comes from within. Besides loving yourself, it's important to take care of yourself as well. Take a yoga class with your friends, cook yourself healthy meals, and spend time with yourself just to think. Focusing on your health is one of the most crucial things you can do in order to fill your life with happiness and success. We could look at all the ways being single leaves you feeling lonely, but instead of thinking of it as lonely, think of it as more you time. Fill it with all of the things that make you happiest, spend time with your loved ones, and don't dwell on the fact that you're alone. You're free. On a serious note, I truly don't believe relationships are the key to happiness. The key to happiness is being yourself, loving yourself, and most importantly, enjoying yourself. Wishing you all a happy Valentine's Day! ​xo Kate