Everyone knows it: when you break up with someone, your life essentially ends. You can’t hang out with the same people that you used to hang out with. You can’t frequent the same coffee shops and local hotspots because you’ll be asked where your former partner in life is. The world doesn’t look the same anymore, and it doesn’t feel the same as it used to be.

What once was an enveloping comfort is now a creeping sense of unfamiliarity, because when you lose someone that you deeply care for, you also lose a huge part that you dedicated yourself to. There aren’t special days to remember, no calls to answer or texts to send. There’s a great amount of free time on your hands, and this leads to the feeling of loneliness, and I think that this is what scares people the most.

Obviously, no one likes being lonely. But, there’s such a great amount of opportunities that come with being alone that you just can’t experience when you have someone who you devote a lot of your time to. After being upset about a lost relationship, I always find it helpful to move forward by looking ahead at the new things that I can do without having someone else to think about.

You Can Truly Rule Your Life

I’ve been single for quite some time now, but, I’m not in any particular hurry to change that! This is because when you are involved with someone, you have to take their thoughts, feelings and ideas into consideration. When your only focus is yourself, there’s a great deal less to factor in before making a decision. There’s no discussion over what Netflix show to watch, which concerts to go to, what restaurant to visit, which vacation to take or which store to get groceries from. While these activities are nice to share with someone else, there’s something truly liberating about being able to go with your own flow.

You Can Sleep Like a Starfish

This one is simple: if you have less people in your bed, you have more bed for yourself. It’s not as hot, you don’t have to listen to someone snore and you can roll around without having to worry about punching your S.O. in the face.

There’s No Image to Keep Up

In this age of constant documentation, the influence of social media is much more apparent than it has been before. And, while there are some exceptions to this social rule, there are many couples who succumb to the affectionate Instagram birthday posts, random snaps of a date night or status updates that show just how good their relationship is. I would like to stress that there is nothing wrong with this, but, I have made the personal choice to lessen my time on social media platforms based on my own personal preference. The past relationships I’ve had have been very quiet with regard to their representation on the Internet, and I truly think that while sharing is caring, keeping the intimate parts of your life intimate makes things so much easier.

You Spend Less Money

That money you would’ve spent on a Christmas gift or a fancy date night? That can go right into making a bigger purchase for yourself! While that can seem awfully selfish, I’m a huge advocate of treating yourself when you deserve it. Sure, someone can spoil you anytime that they want, but there’s no personal validation in that. I’ll never forget when I bought my very own guitar. I’ll never forget when I bought my first car (thanks for helping, dad!). I’ll never forget when I bought my own concert tickets to shows that I really wanted to see. Having that independence to take care of myself is an incredible thing to possess, and knowing that I have the ability to do so is empowering.

You Have Less to Worry About

The nice thing about being in a relationship with someone is that you can help work through personal issues with them. They become such a valuable support system to you, and it’s just another avenue by which to increase intimacy between partners. However, we need to remember that this support can take away our own personal resources that we use to help ourselves. Sure, it’s lovely to have someone to vent to after a long day, but, when they reciprocate, you have to bear that emotional load, too. While this isn’t a huge problem for some people, there’s something to be said about compassion fatigue. When you care so much, you can become burned out, and that’s something that contributes to the deterioration of relationships.

Big Decisions are Easier

Without a doubt, making choices on where you’re going to live, go to school, work or travel will be inadvertently easier to make when you’re single. When you’re the only person that needs to be factored in, you can make these decisions with ease. I’m one of those chronic overthinkers; the more variables in the equation, the more time I’m bound to spend fretting over every detail. There’s just less to think about, and that reduces your limited cognitive resources.

You Can Grow within Yourself

When you are in a relationship with someone, a great majority of your time is spent on tending to and growing that relationship. This is a great thing. But, there are instances in which people forget to establish themselves as an independent person within that relationship due to the intense focus on the couple as a whole. Being single forces you to take a step back in front of the mirror and provides the person with more opportunities to learn and change and adapt and grow. New passions are discovered, new attributes are explored and new qualities arise; all of this new is good for the soul.

Sure, there are a great deal of reasons why relationships are great! I’m not here to bash people who are dating, engaged, married or committed to each other. But, I think that society forgets that being single is like every relationship; it is what you make it to be. By seizing the opportunities that life gives you and living in the moment, there is so much to be discovered. Put the "sing" in "single," because singing and dancing to your own beats and sounds is sometimes better than trying to be in a duet.