I have never had a boyfriend. I have never been kissed. I have never held hands with a boy romantically, been on a romantic candlelit dinner, or had a guy hold a boombox outside my window. I am 20 years old, and I have been single for all 20 of those years.

Within the past year or two, my social media has been flooded with “relationship goals.” Pictures of pretty people doing ridiculous things together, from playing video games together to climbing mountains. “Relationship goals” has been the worst thing to happen to my Facebook and Twitter timeline since the ice bucket challenge.

Relationship goals are stupid. No, I don’t think relationships are stupid -- just that relationship goals are stupid. I find it stupid that actual people’s relationships are being put on pedestals, despite the fact that every person retweeting or liking their pictures have no clue what their relationship is like in reality. You have no clue.

People seem to think that for their relationship to be successful, it has to match all these preconceived notions -- that if your partner doesn’t look like those people or talk like those people or take you on the same dates as those people, your relationship isn’t worthy of consideration. It’s unhealthy, and no better than thinking that the photoshopped pictures of models on magazine covers are real.

It’s frustrating and tiring to be constantly bombarded with these images on every social media platform. I have never been in a relationship and even I know that there is so much more work to them than just taking cute pictures and making sure others think you’re happy.

Relationships take time and effort.

How do I, a boyfriendless, inexperienced girl claim to know so much about relationships? Because even though I may never have had a boyfriend or relationship, I’ve survived the past 20 years because of the many other kinds of relationships I’ve had: friendships, family, and everything in between. And in those 20 years, I’ve learned to treat every relationship differently because each is unique. Just because I’m close to my brother doesn’t mean someone else should feel guilty for not being close to theirs, and just because so-called relationship goals work for one relationship doesn’t mean your relationship is lacking if you don’t do those things.

Everyone shouldn’t be aiming for other people’s relationships because that won’t make anyone happy. Stop comparing, stop thinking everything has to be like what you see on the Internet because it doesn’t, and it can’t. We’re in love with the idea of being in love, and that’s why we’re so obsessed with these so-called “goals” because we want something pretty, but that’s not how any relationship works -- romantic or platonic. You have to work hard, and putting other people’s relationships that you know nothing about does nothing for your own relationships.

Yes, it's perfectly fine to admire others' relationships, and yes, it's OK to set goals for what you want, especially in a relationship, but everyone needs to quit setting relationships up for failure because one of you can't afford to buy the other spontaneous PINK or Michael Kors.