So prior to the past year of my life I had always had a roommate or two and although I feel I got rather lucky with my choice of roommates, I feel as if living alone the past year of my life has contributed to an enormous amount of personal growth. I was actually terrified of becoming my own roommate prior to moving in. I thought I was going to lose all my friends, become a complete introvert and not leave my apartment, possibly gain weight because cooking for one person is hard, and even more terrifying, I thought I would become lonely and a sense of depression would set in. Not only did I probably experience a little bit of those things, I don’t see them as negative things, I only see them as personal growth because of the person I am writing this article before you. So here are 5 things I learned about myself as I made the transition to living alone at 24 years old.
- The only person you can really rely on is yourself. Not I trust numerous people, but when it comes to getting stuff done I am the only one who is capable of making sure that happens.
- You are only responsible for you. I stopped worrying about others, because let's face it now I got enough on my plate with cleaning, paying bills (rent is higher in a single bedroom), working, and the list goes on and on.
- You somehow become organized and start to declutter your life. I think I have donated more clothes and thrown out more “trash” in the past year then I can ever remember. You develop a system that works for you! Plus you know where you put everything, usually ;).
- You learn to wash dishes and quickly. In my case anyways; I was without a dishwasher, probably something I will never do it again! Although I feel like I am a pro at it now. No dirty dishes in this girl's sink.
- You become comfortable with silence. Now don’t get me wrong I watch tv, listen to music, and occasionally talk to myself but silence no longer scares me or makes me feel uncomfortable. I think it is part of becoming more confident in oneself.
