As human beings, we crave the feeling of being accepted by society at all times. We like it when people like us and include us in their lives. Sometimes, we compromise our ideas, thoughts, convictions, faith, and dreams just to comply to what the world wants and likes. But there’s an empty void in pleasing people. The world will never be satisfied and no matter what you do for them to like you, there will always be something else that you need to do. Then you’ll realize that you gave up the essence of who you are for nothing.

Valentine’s Day approaches and some people are excited to dress up and go to celebrate their love; while other people are stressing out looking for ideas on how to celebrate Valentine’s with their date, and so many other people who wish that they will have someone to spend Valentine’s with. The world has put certain standards for this occasion—flowers, chocolates, a cute place, a fancy restaurant, etc. In other words, the options are already there. You just have to decide which to choose.

But on this special day, you don’t have to conform to the standards that this world has set. You don’t have to have a date to go out on Valentine’s. You can still go out with your friends and celebrate friendship. We Hispanics call it Dia del Amor y la Amistad or The Day of Love and Friendship. It’s a day to celebrate everyone you know by going out with your friends, hugging everybody, and everybody getting chocolates! So grab your friends and celebrate their friendship by having fun by doing the things that you all enjoy. It can be either to go to someone’s house and chill there, play some board games, bake something together, go to a coffee shop and catch up with friends, go to a beautiful park and have a picnic, go shopping to the mall, or even a short road trip.

The Day of Love and Friendship is not about what you’re going to get or where your date is going to take you; it is about being able to give and make others happy. It is about showing others how much you love and appreciate them.

This reminds me of something really fun that my friend and I did on The Day of Love and Friendship in Costa Rica. We wrote little notes, bought lots of chocolates and flowers and took a train together to the city and started walking on the streets. We stopped to talk to people and later gave them one flower with a note. Our intention was that the flower would pass from person to person, so that everybody could have a flower on Valentine’s. We also gave chocolates to the buses drivers and people that looked really busy at work. It was a day full of love and unforgettable memories as we saw people’s reactions to our initiative.

Don’t let this colorful day get you down. Don’t grow expectations for what you’re going to get; but think about something new to show the world your love.