Falling in Love with February

February has been my least favorite month for as long as I can remember. I can look back on my life and point out a million bad things that have happened on chilly February days. At the dawn of February 1st every year, I wake with a sinking feeling in my stomach and an impending sense of doom. 

By my early twenties, I found myself completely cynical of the entire idea of Valentine’s Day– and not just the romantic part of it. I wanted nothing to do with the hearts, the candy, the pink and red signs. It was all a gimmick to get people into candle-lit restaurants on a weeknight. 

One year, in a conversation with someone about the misery of February, they said something that put it all into perspective.

“Why don’t you just enjoy it?”

I blinked at her. I didn’t have an answer for that. 

Why don’t you just enjoy it?

At first, I was angry. How could I enjoy a month when it reminded me of so many sad days? Had she not heard what I just said?

Then, I let myself really reflect on what she was saying. Here I was, throwing away 1/12 of a year because it usually was not a great month. 

28 days automatically down the drain. Those days didn’t even have a chance to prove me wrong. 

Shortly after that conversation, the pandemic hit, and February went back to being horrible. Valentine’s Day has been shoved from my mind and ignored once more. 

And yet, 2023 is a new year. If I have learned anything from the past two years, it is that life is unpredictable and promised to no one. 28  days is a lot to throw away.

So, I’m challenging myself this year. 

For all 28 days of February, I am going to do one special thing to help me fall in love with February.

It is the month of romance, after all.

Making life special doesn’t mean I have to do something grand like booking a trip (although that isn’t a terrible idea…). It can mean buying myself my favorite ice cream or taking the time to get a special drink after work. We fall in love with our own life in the little things, sometimes. 

By the end of the month, February might still not be my favorite month. It might disappoint me, and still hold more bad things than good things.

The difference is, I will have 28 days of my year back.