Divorce attorneys are not mental health professionals. Nevertheless, whether a lawyer practices in West Palm Beach or elsewhere in Palm Beach County, many of our clients do feel out of place and out of sorts during the day devoted to romance.

At times, our clients do ask us what they should do during this day devoted to love. We are not qualified to treat people with emotional pain and feelings of loneliness.

Nevertheless, we often end up giving advice based on common sense and based on our experience. Some activities that separated, divorcing, or divorced people can consider include:

• Doing something nice for someone else can do wonders if you're feeling lonely on the day dedicated to celebrate love and romance. Consequently, it may help to volunteer to assist with a party at a senior center, homeless shelter, hospital, or religious facility. Human kindness provided to our fellow human beings can make a big difference.
• You can participate in a special activity for yourself. Go to a movie, take a walk, go to a day spa, or participate in any other activity that brings you some sense of joy or makes you feel good. Taking care of yourself and doing something special for yourself can make you feel better and less out of sorts.
• Valentine's Day after a divorce doesn't have to be a dreary or forlorn experience. Sometimes there is comfort in numbers. If you are well enough along in your way of emotional recovery during your divorce, then you may wish to seek activities with other single people. A party or outing with friends is an option whereby there is comfort in numbers.

• If you have children, then focus on them. You can still embrace Valentine's Day vicariously by helping them with their cards and remembering other kinds of love in life rather than the romantic love that you may have lost.
• If you are feeling adventurous, you could contact all your best single friends and invite them to a Valentine's party. However, the catch is that each one has to bring at least one unattached person of the opposite sex. The purpose of the party is not to make a love connection. It is to be surrounded by people having fun and enjoying each other’s company.
• If you're feeling in a more solitary mood, then go out to areas where you may not find couples. A trip to a coffee shop or bookstore is a good alternative to dinner at a restaurant where couples in love may abound.

The above activities may distract you if you are coping with sadness or some other difficulty. Take solace in the fact that Valentine's Day is but one day of the year. And during each day you're getting better and better and that with the passage of each day you'll be progressing on the road to emotional recovery and a new and better life.