what Valentine really means to me...

I know you've seen and read so many posts about valentine today, and you're probably wondering why mine should be any different from the other ones. Well, I can't tell if you'll enjoy mine better, but what I can say is that you'll find mine different from the other posts you've seen so far.

When I began composing this post, all I wanted to do was share what valentine really means to me. I spent considerable amount of time writing it, and when I was done, I ran it by a friend of mine to read through. In the process, we started discussing the essence of the Valentine's day celebration, and I soon realised that though our views towards valentine was similar, but they were unique in their own way.

I knew I already had a good post, the problem was that it reflected only my views. Then it hit me, why not create a post that will have different people from different backgrounds, sharing what valentine really means to them?

To get this done, I sent DMs to several people on facebook to write briefly on 'what valentine really means to me'. These are some of the replies I got:

EDDY
"To be frank, I've never given much thoughts about it, but when I hear the word 'valentine', what comes to mind is, taking a girl on a fancy date, doing and saying the nicest things, hoping to get 'lucky' at the end of the night (winks)".

ZARA
"I guess valentine is the day that gets me to give 200% of my attention to my boo. The day I use my every action to show him how much he means to me".

FUNMI
"I know that so many people see Valentine's Day, as an opportunity to have tons of sex. But personally, valentine is an opportunity to show my boyfriend how right he was to choose me over others".

VAL
" I'm pretty sure you asked me this because of my name. Lol. Going the extra mile to make my partner happy, no matter how, is what valentine really means to me".

MARTHA
"I think valentine is overrated by youths of today. So just leave it for married people. Remind me when I'm married! Lol".

PROMISE
" Valentine is that day when everything gets to be extra-special. The date, the talks, the laughs, and especially the sex. Everything just gets to be extra-special, at times without even trying too hard".

BAYO
"To me, valentine means 'sacrifice'. Just like st. Valentine, I make sacrifices for love in my own little way. I sacrifice a lot of time, money and attention to make sure that my girlfriend has a nice time, no matter how tight my schedule or finances are. So sacrifice...that's what valentine really means to me".

Although there are others, I choose these few to share.

Reading all the replies I received, I've come to the conclusion, that though everybody sees valentine in their own unique way, almost everybody agrees that valentine is about going out of your way to please the other person in the relationship. At times, you might not be able to do something extravagant, but the valentine feeling just makes you want to do the 'extra' to please the other person.

It's true that I may have written a better post at first, but if I hadn't done this, maybe I wouldn't have realised that 'giving over 100%, going the extra mile, and making sacrifices, to show Her how special she is to me, and how much I love and value Her, is what valentine really means to me'.

Thanks for reading through, and feel free to share your thoughts.