When to break up around Valentine's Day?
Right Before.
By Matt Petersen
Managing Editor,
The Voice
Where love and relationships are concerned, one factor above all others can have the greatest influence: honesty. The ability to be honest with oneself and with a significant other is one of the most underrated virtues in today's day and age.
Valentine's Day is a proving day for honesty between persons who presumably have feelings for each other. It is a day when one can truly show not only by word, but deed how he/she feels about the other.
So what happens if the feelings of affection are no longer mutual, and Cupid's heyday is nigh at hand? What should you do if you "don't feel that way anymore?" In case you haven't gotten the hint: be honest. Break things off before Valentine's Day.
Fiscally, potentially large sums of money aren't wasted on an evening that is only thoroughly enjoyed by half of the couple. Should the relationship be broken up after Valentine's Day, at least one person will think (and don't think they won't), "Man, I could really use the money I wasted that night."
Emotionally, the lesser-of-two-evils decision to break up before Feb. 14 will save a lot of heartache. Memories of an ex-loved one only remind one of how much was lost. Memories of a romantic Valentine's Day that are still fresh in the mind right after breakup will make moving on with oneself and with life that much harder.
Again, it all comes back to honesty. To the person who does the dumping, there's been some thinking involved. If you dump your significant other right after Valentine's Day, it means you were thinking about doing it on Valentine's Day. Is that fair to the other person? Is it right to pretend to be enjoying a romantic evening while on the inside you're thinking, "This isn't really working for me"?
While it isn't very much fun being "significant otherless" on Valentine's Day, it hurts a lot less in the pocket and the heart than if you were to find out the day was meaningless to your ex, while you thought it was proof you were "meant to be together."
If you're thinking the relationship you're currently in won't work, break it off now, before Feb. 14. If you are the one being dumped, be grateful it happened before that day, and spend Valentine's Day with others who are honestly single, rather than dishonestly together with someone.
