Every year, when February 14th rolls around, over half of the population finds themselves with the exact same dilemma: On the day made for spending time with your significant other, what do single people do? It seems like everywhere you look on Valentine’s day, you see various public displays of affection, and sometimes it just feels torturous. So then, the question is again restated: How exactly can single people pass time to get through the day? To answer that question, I have constructed a list of 8 activities that can provide a fun (or at least bearable) Single Valentine’s Day.

• Watch a movie

Around Valentine’s Day, many of the movies that are made available are love stories or romantic tragedies. While it is common even for single people to watch these movies on Valentine’s Day and cry an entire tissue box worth, it might be a better idea to watch movies that improve your mood. Watching a sad movie about your situation is a great way to stay sad. If that’s what you want, then you’re all set. But if not, heartwarming or up-beat movies are the way to go.

• Buy chocolate and eat it yourself

Valentine’s Day candy is everywhere in February. Red heart-shaped boxes filled to the brim with various flavored chocolates. Of course, the point of these is to treat your significant other to sweets, but why not just eat them yourself? Nobody ever said you couldn’t treat yourself.

• Lay in bed

A common activity of single people on Valentine’s Day is sulking in their room. Laying in bed alone with your thoughts can be inherently bad, as you are very likely to become sad, but a cozy nap in bed is the best cure to that sadness. Laying in bed is comfortable, which is true whether or not there is somebody to lay with you.

• Buy your mom a gift

Part of Valentine’s Day is giving gifts to your significant other. Even if you don’t have one, you can still enjoy the spirit of giving. Mother’s Day is another three months away, so why not give her an early gift to show your appreciation. That way, if you see a couple giving each other gifts, you have joy in knowing that you participated as well.

• Make a tally of your single years streak

This might be a game you can play with your friends. Sad as it may be, it is quite relatable, which allows for competitions between single friends. Count up how many years you have been single on February 14th, and whoever has the lowest number wins. This is not how many years you have been single in general, just on Valentine’s Day. So if you have had a relationship that lasted from February 15th 2023 to February 13th 2024, it doesn’t count. Most often, the numbers rely solely on who is the youngest, given that they are usually very similar if not the same number.

• Hang out with friends that are also single

Going along with the last one, it is extremely unlikely that every one of your friends are in relationships. When it comes to spending Valentine’s day with someone, there’s no one better than your other, similarly-single friends. Girls often do this under the name of “Galentine’s.” For guys, the term “hang out” cannot be replaced, but the ideas behind both are the same. Given the circumstances of the meet up, fun group activities might include sharing past relationship stories, eating copious amounts of chocolate, or crying over your shared loneliness.

• Book every other seat at a movie theater

As crazy as it may seem, this idea has already been done. In 2014, an unnamed Shanghai man booked every other seat for a showing of “Beijing Love Story” so that couples could not sit together on Valentine’s Day. He had broken up with his girlfriend some time before, and decided that if he couldn’t be happy, no one else could either. Granted, the accumulated price of the movie tickets was quite high, and he didn’t succeed in purchasing all of them until his third attempt, but his persistence is admirable.

• Acceptance

It may come now or later, but acceptance is part of being single on Valentine’s Day. You must accept that you had yet another year of it. You must accept the possibility that this is not your last year of the same thing. You must accept that you are not the problem. Perhaps there is no problem, but rather it is just not the right time. Either way, understand this: You are not loneliness personified. You are not the character of your sadness during this time of year. You are you. If anyone has a problem with that, then they have problems of their own.

So whether you are single by chance or by choice (your choice or someone else’s), there are many different things that you could do to occupy your time on the day of couples. No matter what you do, whether it involves chocolate, friendship bracelets, or being a menace at the movies, at least you can find joy in knowing that there is one less source of PDA in the world.