Friday night out...

So, it's that time of year again.

The time of year where we show the person that we share our lives with how much that they mean to us; where random gestures of love are shown and wild declarations of passion and diamonds are given.

Hmm, no? Not feeling it this year?

Well, this time last year I felt rough and miserable. It was not a good time of the year for me, and if I can recall it also wasn't a good time for a certain depressed Valentine card seller, who was in love last year with a girl who was dating a pilot. I haven't forgotten that guy from last year, who looked positively suicidal to think that he wouldn't have the woman he loved, and I suppose there was a part of me that thought in a similar vein.

Most of us have been there at some point.
'Yes, that is the one,' we say, 'that is the one I have been waiting for, fighting off crocodiles for and crossing burning hot sand for....'  Then, bugger it, they go and decide that actually you weren't the one they wanted and that just over the hill promised a much greener area.

Tsk, people and their independent decisions.

The good news is, if this is you this year, I can reliably inform you that it will get better, and genuinely promise you that all pain dissipates. Someone told me that last year on a comment on my blog, and it is absolutely true. All pain dissipates.

Emotional, wretched and beaten - you will get through it. Yes, there will be some who feel it stronger and longer than others, but there is always a way out. Eventually the fog lifts, and you start to do the things that you enjoy again - you no longer feel bereft and sad. You actually notice that you don't think about them a million times before you have had breakfast; that every song on the radio isn't about you or them and you can watch your favourite program again.

Twelve months on and I am even more different than I was then, or even 24 months previously. The changes I have seen in myself in two years, makes me realise that I wasn't ready for any relationships then and I am probably not now either. My advice to anyone in the same boat is just enjoy being you again...I am.

So what have I got planned for Valentine's? Well, Pootle and I are going Speed Dating. Neither of us have any intention of meeting anyone for anything more than just a fun evening, but we have never done it before - and we love to people watch.

So Happy Valentine's to you all - including the single people. Enjoy it - if only for the fact that it's a Friday night out.