Let's face it, being single can be the worst thing ever. Though it's important to be familiar with your own independence, sometimes it sucks to be alone in a sea of friends who are all in relationships, leaving you to be the cliche single buddy who's forever banished to be third wheel.
Now, it may seem like a sad and lonely position to be in, especially during your college years (the height of our sexual and emotional epiphanies), but being on your own can actually be the best thing for you. A little "me" or "treat yourself" time never hurts and may be exactly what you need.
So, to all the single people out there, I expect you to metaphorically (or literally) nod your head, raise your glass or face-palm yourself in agreement with the 11 reasons why being single in college can be a healthy choice rather than a depressing one.
1. You don’t have to feel responsible for another human being.
Finding a significant other can be an amazing feeling, but sometimes it's nice to be only have to keep tabs yourself.
2. You can work on yourself, for yourself, by yourself.
It's important to know who you are, what you're about and what you want in a relationship before you take someone else along for the same ride you're on. Knowing yourself will make future relationships that much sweeter.
3. Some people just really like it and that's OK.
It's important to emphasize the fact that it's totally fine if you enjoy being on your own. As millennials, we're caught in a gray space of hook up culture, old school courting of those we "fancy" and wanting to be totally independent human beings. All three options are great, but it's also fine to not necessarily want to be tied down to another person.
4. You can do socially unacceptable or weird things without embarrassing anyone but yourself.
It's not weird if they can't see you, right?
5. "Netflix and chill" literally means Netflix and chill.
Netflix will never let you down, leave you heartbroken or expect you to make out the second you turn it on.
6. You don’t have to shave from head to toe every other day.
Traditionally, we expect our significant others to "keep it fresh and clean" when in a relationship. Fortunately with the many body positivity movements circulating society today, this old school idea of hairlessness is beginning to slowly fade. However, the greatest perk of being single is not worrying about shaving or meticulously plucking every inch of our bodies for anyone but ourselves, pro-body positivity or not. If you like to be hairless, cool. If you're into letting your body hair do it's thing, that's cool too. The point is, you can do it for you.
7. You can focus on school (or anything else) 100 percent.
Personally, I like to give 100 percent of myself to another person when in a romantic relationship or even friendship. Unfortunately, being 100 percent invested in certain relationships can take away precious time from other things you should be focused on. Balancing sports with classes, homework, thesis research and job searches is hard enough, and sometimes adding that new relationship can make balancing life that much trickier. Maybe chill on your own for a bit and see how focused you really can be.
8. Testing your patience is healthy.
If I've learned anything from being single, then it's that you must have patience if you are looking for someone to eventually be your other half. Of course we have physical and emotional needs that can be hard to ignore, but being patient and not spending your time constantly looking for "the one" is important. The universe knows what you need, trust that it'll provide you with whoever fulfills that need when the time is right.
9. Time will become your best friend.
Taking time to simply be can be a great benefit of being single. Like I mentioned before, single life allows you to work on yourself for yourself, but it also allows you to spend time doing things you want to do in whatever pockets of time you have in a day.
10. You'll learn the art of self-love.
Though it's crucial to learn how to love another human being, it's just as (if not more) important to learn to love yourself first. Fall in love with your quirks, with your body, with your biggest insecurities. Fall in love with you before you fall in love with someone else.
11. You'll learn that being alone is one of the hardest, yet most rewarding things ever.
I've said it a million times, and I'll say it again; if you can survive being single and alone, then you’ll grow immensely. When you're forced to be with yourself all the time and be selfish (in a good way) of who you share yourself with, you learn a lot about who you are. It's a scary thought -- being alone. But, I promise you, if you can learn how to be alone and not lonely, then you'll be comfortable in and out of any relationship the universe brings your way.
