Couples shouldn’t need a specific day as a reminder to show love. If they do, they probably won’t last until the next Valentine’s Day.

The cute notes, saying “I love you,” the sweet gestures and small presents to show you care should happen regardless of a holiday and, to be honest, the gestures all seem less genuine to me on Valentine’s Day.

They don’t seem to be done because you care, but because there’s a pressure, an underlying obligation to do something cute for your significant other.

I see my friends and catch even myself becoming subject to the frenzy. People agonize over the best date and the perfect present, but not necessarily for the best reason. Valentine’s Day has become a competition of sorts.

It’s a competition of who can inspire the most “Awww”s from their girl friends or high fives from their guy friends when they recount what they did on Valentine’s Day.

I see people comparing the elaborate dates they have planned and the expensive presents they have chosen for their significant other. This removes the feeling of love that Valentine’s Day may hope to inspire.

The day becomes almost as much about wanting to outdo and impress one’s friends as expressing how much you care about your girlfriend or boyfriend. The love seems to often unintentionally take a backseat.

Seeing as how there is a designated day to show you care, people might as well take advantage of it.

Valentine’s Day purports to be about love, so make it about love. Love isn’t about the elaborate things, the sunset horseback rides and the diamond earrings.

It’s about noticing the little things about your significant other that he or she wouldn’t expect you to care about or recognize.

Take her to the restaurant she mentioned in passing that she wanted to go to, or buy him the soundtrack to a movie he told you he loved.

It’s the little things that make the biggest impact.