While relationships are a beautiful thing, I think it's important for us as humans and individuals to be alone at some point in our lives to learn who we are and what we want out of our lives and how we want to be treated. I believe we accept the love and care we tolerate, so it's important for us to find those boundaries and lines so we know where to draw them in any of our relationships.
I asked eight people why being alone at some point in their life is important to them and what they have learned from it:
"I don't think you need to be single, but I think you need to have your own life experiences and friendships and opportunities without one person being there as your anchor for everything. I don't think there is anything wrong with having your one person, as long as you can have your own time with yourself to be able to grow as a person by yourself and for yourself." — Female, 18
"First and foremost I personally believe we were created to be in relationships. However relationships do come and go in different seasons of life, but I think this is beneficial. There are times in life where we need to be alone and either work on some things in our life or work on being able to be happy alone, which is very important in my opinion. If we can't find happiness on our own then we will carry that into a future relationship and expect that person to provide us with that happiness which will eventually run out. So I do think learning to be happy alone and being alone are important in our life because those are times when I have personally found I grow and can work on myself the most. And if all else, relationships are important because no matter what people say, they always want someone to share experiences in life with, so being able to experience those moments and experience time by myself, I can prepare myself for what I want when the time is right." — Male, 20
"I think that it's important to be alone at some point in your life in order to find yourself. You have to know who you are and what you want out of life in order to be with someone. You have to learn about yourself before you can learn how to be committed to another person." — Female, 21
"It is important to be alone so that you can allow yourself to grow and learn to love yourself. You are not able to love another person fully if you do not know how to love yourself. Being alone is important so you can cultivate that self-love and figure out the respect you deserve." — Female, 21
"I think it important for you to be single to learn yourself. Once you really know yourself, you can then know what you need in your life, to then find that in a partner." — Male, 23
"It's important to be single at some point so you can figure out who you are and become more aware of your own strengths and weaknesses and really figure out the type of friend and partner you want to be. I think it's also important to be selfish in pursuit of your goals. To not let anyone get in the way of your goals or have anyone tell you your dreams are too big. Also, to determine what qualities you want in a partner, and which ones are true deal breakers. Being single gives you time to set realistic expectations about a future partner, so when it comes time to date, you won't settle for less than you deserve." — Female, 29
"I believe that it is important for people to be single for a certain duration of their mature life. It helps them be more independent and self-indulging and gives them time to experience all types of people and see what they like. When you are single you will need to problem solve with your own skills or utilize connections. Being single allows for you to go out and make whatever mistakes you chose to and to learn from them for yourself, which will then help develop your decision-making process and cause you to focus on what you really want." — Male, 21
"I think it's so so important for you to be single for at least some point in time to learn about yourself and who you are and what you want. Not just want you want in a relationship, but what you want out of life. To learn what you tolerate as a human being and what kind of love you deserve and accept. When we know who were are and what we want and deserve, I feel like we learn to love ourselves before entering into a relationship with anyone, which is necessary in order to love and be loved in return." — Female, 20
