Along with the changing leaves, pumpkin spice and fluffy sweaters, fall brings its special friend to spice up the holidays: cuffing season.

According to Cosmopolitan, “cuffing season” is the period from October to March when people have the desire to be “cuffed up” with someone or begin a relationship. It stems from the idea that the cold weather and the lack of sunshine creates a sense of loneliness among single people. People, especially teenagers, sometimes feel a strong sense of urgency to find someone to help take away the cold winter blues.

It’s almost like a chain reaction; when you see all of your other friends starting to cuff up all of a sudden, then you start to feel the need to quickly find someone with whom to spend your cuffing season. Soon enough, everyone is dating everyone just to try to stay warm for the cold long winter.

But cuffing season takes away from the true value of dating. Being in a relationship is more than going on a couple of dates, cuddling by the fire and then realizing in the spring there is no point in being in a relationship anymore.

Many people have heard the phrase “It’s not you, it’s me” when it comes to breakups. Other than the fact that it is the worst breakup line in the history of mankind, it holds some truth most people tend to not realize.

Most teenage relationships don’t last long because people rush into them too fast or are not mentally prepared to commit long-term to someone. With cuffing season, the appeal is to simply be in a relationship but not necessarily to work with the other person in developing the relationship past the honeymoon stage.

When someone says, “It’s not you, it’s me,” most of the time they’re referring to the fact that they are not ready to further develop the relationship and that they need time to discover who they are. Therefore, there is truth to this line.

Rather than trying to find someone to cuff up prematurely just to get through the winter months and to follow the trend, I recommend you to take some time to focus on yourself. Make sure you feel comfortable with each and every aspect of who you are. There is nothing more important than establishing who you are as a person and who you want to be in the future.

I’ll be the first to admit I often find myself thinking sometimes about how amazing it would feel to be in a relationship. But I also know there is no point in being in love with someone else if I can’t love myself first.

The views in this column do not necessarily reflect the views of the HiLite staff. Reach Natalie Khamis at [email protected].