I started out this morning much like every other... Hit the snooze button enough times that I got about an extra 40 minutes of sleep, crawled out of bed, slunk into the shower, and got ready for the day ahead of me. Luckily I had time for a break, so I opened up the February issue of Glamour and read a few pages. Being a February issue, I was bombarded by tons of pink, red, and little hearts. My first big reminder that Valentines Day is approaching, and I, like many women out there, am still single.

I know that Valentine's Day is a source of severe anxiety for a lot of people out there, I myself included. Media plays this "holiday" out so that everyone out there with someone else spends oodles of money on their loved one, and everyone out there who DOESN'T have someone else is expected to stay inside and mope, or something to that effect.

I, for one, am not going to mope. So I'm single. That doesn't automatically mean that I'm hideous. Jesus, ladies, Gisele Bundchen is single! Nicole Kidman is (supposedly, but all the same) single! These are two gorgeous ladies, and sure as hell show me that just because a girl is single doesn't automatically mean there's something wrong with her. And it's damn true. I'm cute, and I have a bunch of cute single girl friends. Some of them don't even mind that they're single.

I've decided that I too no longer mind that I'm single, and that yet again I will be spending V-Day without a lover. (C'mon, who wants to celebrate a holiday nicknamed V-Day anyway? V could stand for Venerial! Venerial Day! Pretty much.) I honestly don't mind. I could get into the whole commercialization of this holiday, but then I would sound bitter and many people would probably question my honesty in this article. So instead I'm going to do something much better, and much more truthhful, and that is get into the reasons why it's OKAY to be a single girl in this world!

First and foremost, I'm only 18 and nearly 19, and I have a whole damn life ahead of me to meet that someone special. It's not fair to pressure young women to get into relationships, because they have so much else to do! I mean, I have to finish college, get a good job, find myself a wonderful home, travel, wear a bikini for at least 10 more years, and experience life on my own. It's not fair to make me feel like I need to have a husband to achieve these things, because in all honesty a husband would make all these dreams exactly that-dreams. I don't want them to be dreams like they were for so many women in the past, I want them to be a reality. I'm not ready or willing to sacrifice my goals to fulfill a stereotype. Besides, we all know that, unless we are successful, rich celebrities, having children will DEFINITELY take away our ability of wearing a bikini and looking good in it.

I'm not going to break my back trying to find a mate, just to fulfill society's outdated stereotype of a real, successful woman. And it's not that I don't want to find love, either. It would be fine and dandy, it's just that I have a full 60 years ahead of me to do so. And just because I don't have a lover holding me during the sunrise in Tahiti, it doesn't mean the sunrise is any less beautiful! Maybe it will be even more beautiful, because you won't be interrupted into thinking about anything but that beautiful sunrise.

And not being in love means... No expectations. You don't have to be disappointed, just as you don't have to disappoint. There's no fears of angering or hurting anyone by your decisions to move to a different state, or to switch jobs, or to sing Mariah Carey in the shower at the top of your lungs. You don't have to feel like your body isn't as thin as his ex-girlfriends, or that you just aren't as smart as his sister. Without him, you are. You are anything you want to be.

So why worry about finding that someone to love, when she's sitting right at this chair, reading this computer screen? The most important person in your life, and also the most special, is you, darling! So love your gorgeous self! After all, you'll never worry that your trip to Australia interferes with his mother's birthday. You'll never have to fear that you're just not as good as his first girlfriend. All you have to do is love yourself, and you'll get as much love back as you put in.

So this Valentine's Day, my single sisters, let's go out to the best restaurants and treat our special honeys to the best meals without worrying about anything except for how you're going to roll yourself out the door after your favorite dessert. Amen, my darlings!

~Anne