With Valentine’s Day just around the corner, people everywhere have probably decided already on the right present to give to their significant other.

Stores have stocked up on teddy bears, chocolate, and several other amorous motifs, ready to help out desperate lovers.
While it is assumed we understand what Valentine’s Day is all about, the truth is Valentine’s Day bears a deeper, more sentimental meaning.

People also refer to Valentine’s Day as the day of romance. However, Valentine’s Day is much more than romantic love.
The feast is named after a Christian saint named Valentinus, who – according to legend – officiated weddings on February 14, and who later became a martyr and died in Rome.

The historical accuracy of the legend of Saint Valentinus has become less relevant today, as Valentine’s Day is about showing love and affection.

Naturally, the celebration has been commercialized like many other feasts (e.g. Christmas, Halloween), and people have grown less interested in understanding and practicing its true meaning, and have focused more on its material and traditional implications: exchange of gifts between lovers.

While giving or receiving gifts is not wrong, it is fundamental that we understand Valentine’s is the day to show our affection to everybody who has supported us and loved us at any point in our lives.

Valentine’s is not and should not be exclusively about our love for our significant other.

Love is an umbrella term used to describe different forms of affection we feel and express on different levels to people, objects or ideas, and Valentine’s Day the day of love should honor love in all its forms.

At the end of the day, although a lover may come and go, our parents will always be our parents and our true friends will always be there for us. Love is not selfish, so why not share it with others on Valentine’s Day?

We live busy lives nowadays, and it is very easy to get lost in our monotonous routines quite often. We barely have time to sit down and truly enjoy quality time with our friends, sometimes ignoring what they could be going through.

Therefore, it is never too late to show our affection to our loved ones with a card or a hug, and there’s no better day to do it than Valentine’s Day.

Thus, this February 14, do not fall prey to marketing schemes and traditionalism, but become the change you wish to see in the world. Stand up and reach out for others – family, lovers, and friends – and you will see how the true meaning of love unfolds before your eyes.