Admit it, Valentine’s Day is a tough holiday for those of us without “significant others.” No matter where we turn, we’re bombarded with reminders of our unattached status. At work, everyone seems to have a bouquet of flowers adorning their desktops. The newspapers and evening TV news broadcasts are filled with cute romantic stories. And there’s the restaurants—which all seem to lose their incandescent lighting in favor of candlelight. We can’t help feeling a little forlorn—like we’re back in grade school and the only child who didn’t receive a paper Valentine.

Yet we shouldn’t ignore this holiday because we don’t have a sweetheart. Instead, think about celebrating the holiday with your one true “love”—yourself!

So use this holiday to spoil yourself. Do something you wouldn’t normally do; buy a few little extravagances that you don’t normally permit yourself to purchase. Cater to your whims and fantasies. Some ideas:

1) Take off work during the afternoon and indulge in your passion.
Visit an art gallery you have always wanted to explore; escape to your favorite museum. Meet a friend at a fancy hotel for tea. Ask another single friend to try a new winter sport with you—like cross-country skiing. After an invigorating day outdoors, stop by that trendy café you have always wanted to visit and linger over a mug of Irish coffee or hot cocoa.

2) Give into your cravings for those sinful sweets.
Stop by a pastry shop and buy the biggest French pastry you can find. Or have a chocolate fix. Send yourself a gift basket filled with your favorite chocolate goodies!

3) Pamper yourself with an aromatherapy bath.
Treat yourself to a relaxing soak in the bathtub filled with fragrant bath oil. Wonderful baskets of aromatherapy products are now available at many bath stores—why not reward yourself?

4) Purchase a “Splurge” gift.
Buy yourself something that you wouldn’t normally. Perhaps it’s a beautiful designer scarf, a soft angora sweater or a pair of real leather driving gloves. If you have a pet, why not commission an artist to draw a portrait of you and your faithful companion?

5) Do something nice for someone else.
A few years ago a friend began making little Valentine “Care” packages for her female friends. She develops a theme every year, decorates baskets or boxes to match that theme, and then fills the basket or box with appropriate goodies. For example, her theme a few years ago was “Your friendship brings music to my life.” She decorated a long narrow box to look like a piano keyboard and filled the box with meringue cookies shaped like treble clefs. Last year her theme was “Mint to be friends” so she decorated a round box to look like a mint patty and then filled the box with homemade mint candies.

These are just a few ways to get through that difficult holiday. Use your imagination. Who knows—you may find that you don’t need a sweetheart to make this holiday special!