{"id":1615,"date":"2012-02-07T08:00:46","date_gmt":"2012-02-07T13:00:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/doinglifetogether\/?p=1615"},"modified":"2012-03-03T09:57:24","modified_gmt":"2012-03-03T14:57:24","slug":"5-do-and-dont-for-valentine-day-singles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2012\/02\/5-do-and-dont-for-valentine-day-singles.html","title":{"rendered":"5 Do and Don&#8217;t for Valentine Day Singles"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Here are my 5 Dos and Don&#8217;ts for Valentine&#8217;s Day for singles:<\/p>\n<p>1. <strong>Not in a relationship this Valentine\u2019s Day: <\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Don\u2019t<\/strong> sit home and pout about not being in the relationship of your dreams while drowning your sorrows in pints of ice cream. You\u2019ll only gain weight and feel even worse!<\/p>\n<p><strong>Do<\/strong> focus your love on someone meaningful in your life\u2014maybe your parents, grandparents, a special friend, a child in need, etc.\u00a0 Love can be celebrated even when it is not romantic love.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>2. Recently rejected?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Don\u2019t<\/strong> keep asking yourself what you did wrong or go after the person who dumped you.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Do<\/strong> move on even though you may still want the person. The reward system in the brain for wanting the person who dumped you becomes even more active when you can\u2019t get what you want. So don\u2019t rely on your feelings to give you respect. Lead with your head, not heart.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>3. When you are attracted to someone:\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Don\u2019t <\/strong>worry so much about what you say. Research tells us that 55% of attraction is based on body language and 38% on the tone and speed of your voice.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Do<\/strong> notice if he or she is responding to initial attraction. Studies tell us that people know within 90 seconds to 4 minutes of meeting someone.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>4. If you have been dating someone for a long time\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Don\u2019t<\/strong> allow your relationship to become so routine that both of you are bored and becoming uninterested. Between 18-36 months, passion takes a dive due to chemical changes in the brain. This is normal and does not mean you&#8217;ve lost that loving feeling.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Do<\/strong> something novel to ignite a new spark in the relationship. New experiences reactivates the brain\u2019s reward system and bring those same feeling as initial love.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>5. Should you say, &#8220;I love you?&#8221;<br \/>\n<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Don\u2019t<\/strong> say I love you unless you\u2019ve really thought about it and mean it. Research at MIT Sloan School of Management found that the timing of saying this powerful phrase is often based on a cost \u2013benefit analysis and that men tend to sat it first.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Do <\/strong>tell the person you love him or her if you mean it. He or she will want to hear it and it may improve your health. Studies show intimate relationships can bring a drop in blood pressure and longer life. L\u2019chaim!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Here are my 5 Dos and Don&#8217;ts for Valentine&#8217;s Day for singles: 1. Not in a relationship this Valentine\u2019s Day: Don\u2019t sit home and pout about not being in the relationship of your dreams while drowning your sorrows in pints of ice cream. You\u2019ll only gain weight and feel even worse! Do focus your love&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":419,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[913,925],"tags":[128,300,53,953,955,956],"class_list":["post-1615","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-couple-relationships","category-mintle-mentions","tag-couples","tag-love","tag-relationships","tag-romance","tag-singles","tag-valentines-day"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>5 Do and Don&#039;t for Valentine Day Singles<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2012\/02\/5-do-and-dont-for-valentine-day-singles.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"5 Do and Don&#039;t for Valentine Day Singles\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Here are my 5 Dos and Don&#8217;ts for Valentine&#8217;s Day for singles: 1. Not in a relationship this Valentine\u2019s Day: Don\u2019t sit home and pout about not being in the relationship of your dreams while drowning your sorrows in pints of ice cream. You\u2019ll only gain weight and feel even worse! 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Not in a relationship this Valentine\u2019s Day: Don\u2019t sit home and pout about not being in the relationship of your dreams while drowning your sorrows in pints of ice cream. You\u2019ll only gain weight and feel even worse! 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Dr. Linda\u2019s fun personality and expertise comes through whether she\u2019s helping her audience stress less or make peace with their thighs! Dr. Linda has her Ph.D. in Urban Health and Clinical Psychology and is a national expert on mental health. She has specialized in the treatment of eating disorders, anxiety, depression and pain management. With 30 years of clinical experience working with couples, families and individuals, she brings her common-sense approach to people who want to live in positive mental health. Dr. Linda is also a bestselling author with 21 book titles to her credit, a radio host of the Dr. Linda Mintle show, professor, national speaker, winner of the Mom\u2019s Choice Award, a national news consultant, featured writer for Beliefnet and hosts her own website. Her academic appointments keep her abreast of current research in her areas of expertise. Her media experience includes seven years as the resident expert for ABC Family\u2019s Living the Life television show and regular appearances on network television and radio. It is often said that being with Dr. Linda is like having coffee with a friend. She makes the complicated issues of relationships and mental health easy to understand and applicable to everyday living. The ease she has with people, coupled with her clinical training and experience makes her a sought-after speaker on college campuses, conferences and special events. Whether she is doing a TV skit with Tim Conway or discussing teen violence with Queen Latifa, Dr. Linda will entertain, educate and integrate faith and mental health in everyday living. 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