Being in your early twenties brings many things: graduation, new jobs, moving to new places...and marriage. You hit a point when it seems like there's a new couple getting engaged every week! And for those of us who are still single, it can be difficult when everyone around us is starting their fairytale and we're still stuck in the middle of mundane life. But here's the thing about being single -- all my single friends out there listen closely to this -- singleness is not a disease.
Your twenties are for falling in love, but not necessarily with a person. Don't feel like you have to be in a relationship in order to be whole or successful! You can be successful and amazing and take the world by storm, and then Prince Charming will come along and see how completely brilliant and self-sufficient you are and he will love you, but it just isn't time yet. Fall in love with your career, with a hobby, with who you are as a person. Relationships are significantly more fun (and more successful) when both people have an understanding of themselves.
At Christian universities, the common thing to say when you're hopelessly single is "I'm at peace with being single." While I am definitely guilty of saying that, why on earth should we be peaceful? Singleness is an opportunity. When you're in a relationship, you have to think about the other person. You have to (or at least should) think about what's best for your person. When you're single, you only have to think about yourself. Use your time of being single as time to take the world by storm. Have some fire! Be unstoppable! Be a force of nature! Don't be afraid to take an adventure and have the time of your life being single.
Take time to find yourself. Don't just read about how great people became great -- become great yourself! Stop reading and thinking about it and get out there and do something about it! Whether you want to change the world or travel it, use the time you have and do something that makes you happy. And for the love of all that is good, don't do something to impress someone and don't not do something because the person you have your eye on doesn't like the something. Do what makes you happy. Is that skydiving? Become an expert. Is that hiking? Hike every mountain and canyon you can. Stop living a life like you're waiting for someone else to join you-- they'll join you when the time is right. Until then, do what you love and figure out who you are as a person.
Singleness is not a disease. It isn't something that needs to be cured! So delete Tinder, get off the dating sites, ask your friends and family to stop setting you up with so-and-so's friend who's "really nice." Seriously, might I suggest stopping the search? The most unexpected people come at the most unexpected times where you're least expecting them to show up. So let go. Stop being "at peace" and be a force of nature. Figure out who you are as a person. When all the ducks are in a row and the timing is right, you'll find your person. Until then, have fun being single.
