Valentine’s Day is typically associated with happy couples, love, flowers, candy and hearts.

But don’t feel bad if you are single this Valentine’s Day, because it is just as much a day to celebrate love in general. I have always had a boyfriend to celebrate the holiday with. It made me feel lucky that I had someone to share it with, but this year, I am on the other side.

This could be seen as a bad thing, but I realized that a lot of people in this world do not have a significant other yet and it made me think of other ways you celebrate the holiday while being single.

“The way that singles, including me, could celebrate Valentine’s Day is by either telling the person you have a crush on how you feel or just having a great time with the friends you love,” said Michael Wahlund, sophomore organizational management major.

This is an excellent point, becase Valentine’s Day oftentimes makes us focus all of our love onto that one special someone, while forgetting about all of the other sources of love in our lives. See it as a day to celebrate the love of friends, family and even things that you love to do. You do not need a boyfriend or girlfriend to feel loved on this special holiday.

In fact, this holiday was not even started for couples. It started because a man died for his religion.

According to Catholic.org, St. Valentine is “the Patron Saint of affianced couples, bee keepers, engaged couples, epilepsy, fainting, greetings, happy marriages, love, lovers, plague, travelers, and young people,” and we celebrate on Feb. 14 to commemorate his burial after being martyred.

Of course, despite all of these facts, we will still be bombarded with advertisements telling couples how important it is to shower their loved ones with flowers and chocolates or flower-shaped chocolates. Here is some advice for those who are in relationships: don’t be selfish and think only of yourselves. Have a wonderful Valentine’s Day, but do not forget about all of the other sources of love in your life.

Think of others and celebrate the day by sending a Valentine’s Day gift to a person you know who is lonely. It does not even have to cost money. It can be hand-drawn, or a simple joke, poem or riddle written on a piece of paper. A hand-picked flower given with love is worth much more than an expensive bouquet of roses picked by some random florist.

And for you singles out there, do not get depressed just because Valentine’s Day is around the corner. Go watch a movie with some friends (preferably not a romantic comedy). Spend some quality time with family. Share some extra love and kindness on this day. Most of all, do not scramble and try to rush into a relationship just because you don’t want to feel left out.

Remember, some couples are only happy on Valentine’s Day.