I didn’t say so, Jennifer did!
But seriously, even if your partner is broke, would it matter? Does your love cost something? Does it cost a lot? To what extent would it matter?
It is the month of February, the month of love as Valentine is here! Many of us are preparing to give or expecting to receive ‘val gifts’ as it is popularly called. Most men, especially married men, seem to believe Valentine’s day was made to torment them! They feel they spend so much, to ‘prove’ their love to their wives. Those engaged to be married or still dating, also feel the need to show they are
‘Mr Right’ by spending some money on Valentine’s Day.
Do not forget there will be friends and family, looking on and waiting to see what the gift is. The cost, size or brand of the gift can be deemed ‘important’ by someone else’s standard. Your ‘love’ just might be judged by how expensive the gift is, it could be judged by the size of the gift or by the brand of the gift. And there is the added pressure to ‘beat’ or ‘top’ the gift given at the previous Valentine’s day. Quite a lot of pressure for most men and of course, women are not left out in this race to ‘prove their love’ to their partners too. Regardless, we may find that a lot of us are under some financial pressure in February.
The question then arises, if your partner was broke, would your love cost a thing? Would issues arise from your partner being broke? Would it be an issue that your partner lost his or her job? Or business is not booming as usual? And do, he or she is unable to provide financially as they ordinarily would? Would that be a cardinal sin? Some irreconcilable reason to end the relationship?
Statistics already indicate money as one of the ‘popular’ reasons for divorce. Money is an important element in our lives, and yes, romance can be all the ‘sweeter’ with some money. But where you are lacking in money, creativity can be just as romantic.
In my opinion, do we really need to a day to remember and show that we love someone? What have we been doing with the remainder 364days of the year, if we have not been showing love to our partner then?! Perhaps this is why we find that we need to ‘atone’ for not being so loving the other days of the year! We need the expensive weekend getaways and expensive gifts to show how much we ‘still’ love our partner… I’m guessing here and hope this is not you…?
And so let me ask, ‘does your love cost a thing’?!’
Love can cost you so little, as simple as a card with a heart-felt note to show thoughtfulness. It could also cost you as much as a house with the title deeds in my[cough] your name.
Whatever way you decide to go, be sure the real cost of celebrating Valentine’s Day. Sometimes, these things are beyond the money.
Happy Valentine’s Day! I love you, can’t you tell?!
Tolu Dima-Okojie