A Day of Doom for All Men

Monday is Valentine's Day! The day where all men in relationships are put on a mile high platform one inch wide, surrounded by razor sharp knives spreading out fifty feet in circumference, forced to stand on one foot while balancing a pile of encyclopedias on their head, blindfolded with their hands tied behind their back. Basically, it's "One Wrong Move and You are Dead" Day for men.

Now I admit, I love to get flowers, a card, or chocolates (for sure) on Valentine's Day. Who doesn't?! Women like to be treated special and made to feel like royalty. But what I don't like is how much pressure is put on men to make Valentine's Day perfect. Forget the fact that a man may be a caring, helpful, sweet, thoughtful, amazing husband year round, if he forgets to do anything for Cupid's Day then he is doomed. Because that one day sums up the total commitment he has to your relationship. And even if he does something, if it's not what is expected or wanted, then he still loses. Kind of like the image I mentioned in the beginning of a poor hopelessly trapped man. If our men mess up this one day then it shows how little they love and care about us, even if they are princes for the other 364 days of the year.

Why do we do that to our men? Why do we let society do that to them? It's so stupid. I thought relationships were about working together as a team and making things easier. So why is it acceptable to set up one side for complete failure? Not cool. Not fair. Not right. Think about how we, women, would feel if the roles were reversed and our men put that insane amount of pressure on us. There would be a massive revolt. Chaos. Hell on earth unleashed. We would not stand for it so why do we allow and expect our men to?

Now I have nothing wrong with celebrating holidays or anniversaries, but I do have a problem with putting all your hopes and expectations on one day, believing that only his actions on Valentine's Day will show exactly how your husband feels about you. I'm all about feeding your marriage on a daily basis, throughout the year.

Let's look at this from a spiritual point of view. They say miracles don't convert when it comes to the Gospel. Look at Laman and Lemuel, who witnessed everything that Nephi did, and yet were not faithful in the gospel. In fact, they were bitter. Yet Nephi was strengthened by the miracles he saw because he already had faith. He was doing the every day things in his life to increase his faith so those miracles meant a lot to him, but were not where his faith came from. The same thing applies with marriage. One day of never ending flowers, chocolates, silk, and satin will not make up for a year of thoughtlessness. It's the goodbye kiss out the door, verbal expressions of gratitude and love, hugs, help with the kids and chores, dates, and trips to the temple that feed the love in a marriage and make it grow. Those little every day things do matter the most.

If you want a happy marriage and fun Valentine's Days, take the pressure away of one stupid day. Make every day count as a couple and don't get upset if one day doesn't go as planned. Nurturing your marriage daily throughout the years will be far more memorable and special than one day of roses.