The other day I was at a grocery store in my hometown, and the cashier was a girl I graduated high school with. The first thing she asked me was “Have any kids yet” then she asked, “Are you married yet?” and when I replied no to both, her next question was if I was seeing anyone, where I simply said no. She looked at me shocked, and replied “Really?” Now I come from a small town where half of my class I graduated with either have kids, are married, or even engaged already. But for me to even think about having kids or being married at 21 years old, seems impossible.

I know in college you are at the age where everyone will ask you if you are seeing anyone, and honestly, people seem to expect that you should be. Sometimes even your own family will tell you how you need to go out and meet people to find a significant other. Then most people feel pressured to have someone in their life, where they go on these dating websites and pay money to meet a significant other, or they just talk about how lonely they are all the time. I know, I have been the person to talk about how lonely I am before. But the truth is, you have your whole life ahead of you to find your significant other and start a family. The average age of a person getting married now is 28 years old, finish your education and start an independent life, so you can be open up to any opportunity life throws at you and not have anything holding you back what so ever.

I have been single for some time now and it honestly took me awhile to realize this. It took me time to be happy with being independent and love being alone. I fell into being pressured by family and seeing all the “perfect” couples I went to high school with and I wanted that more than anything else. But now, I am happy with my life and could not imagine it any other way.

There are certain things I have done where I thought I needed someone else to do it with me, but once I did it alone it changed my view on everything. For example, people will go to Subway or Wendy’s if they don’t have anyone to go anywhere else with and just take it to go. Their reasoning behind not going to Applebee’s or some sit-down restaurant by themselves is usually that it will be awkward, weird, or people will just stare at them. I went to Buffalo Wild Wings by myself a couple of weeks ago, and I was happy and perfectly content with going alone. Before I went I thought to myself, “Man is this going to be awkward.” Guess what? It wasn’t, at all. I had a good time. I sat at a table by myself and I would do it again in a heartbeat. I plan on doing many more things by myself in the future like; going to the movies, going to the beach, going to national parks, ball games and even traveling.

Most people associate happiness with having a significant other in their life. But happiness to me is being content with you, your life, the person you are, and how you treat other people. So next time someone asks me “Why I don’t have a boyfriend or worry about it or how I’m happy with being single” my answer will be simple. I don’t need a significant other in my life to make me happy, and if I am single the rest of my life, I know I will be perfectly content with my life. I’m not going to pay money to find a significant other on an app or complain about being lonely because the right person will come into my life when the time is ready, and who knows you may just meet the right person by going to the movies, a restaurant, or even a ball-game by yourself.