Ariana Grande's single "Thank U, Next" has become the single girl's anthem of 2018.
Honestly, it's become everyone's anthem.
It's a total bop, but it also opens your eyes to how great you can be to yourself without a relationship.
I'm in a relationship now and I still think this song is empowering, because it's another reminder of being thankful for my exes.
I don't regret who I've dated, but, good Lord, I don't want to touch them with a ten-foot pole ever again.
I think most people aren't too happy with their past love life and wouldn't go back to their exes if their life depended on it, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't be thankful that it happened. If you have no reason to see the silver linings from your past relationships, you need to take a good look at yourself.
Relationships are a time to grow and change as a person, and when they end, that opportunity doesn't end.
Most people think all you can learn from becoming single is self-love, but it goes further than learning to "treat yo'self" and using Lush bath bombs.
You should be able to look at what you learned about yourself and love during, at the end of, and after the relationship and use that to evolve.
I've been able to grow and change for the better because of my relationships, which has also helped me moved past them faster.
Am I fan of my exes? No, ma'am, but I've been able to recognize what each relationship has taught me and use that to be thankful for our time together. I might not like those guys anymore, but I realize without them, I might not have learned some of the things I know today, whether it be in dating or traits for myself.
"Thank U, Next" is exactly that message: Learn, grow, become a better you.
If you spend all your time being bitter about your past relationships or blame being a terrible person on your terrible exes, you need to do some serious self-examination.
We are given so many opportunities to become better people and learn to become stronger through our experiences, and if you only take away the negative, no one is going to like who you become.
If you say all you took away from your past relationships are negative traits, then you don't need to get into another relationship anytime soon. Emotional walls, the cold shoulder, and distrust or overprotectiveness aren't "good things" to learn from a relationship—they're the opposite.
Relationships are such a great time to learn about expectations for yourself and significant others—current or future. If you can't learn something positive from your relationships, you should spend more time by yourself to learn about you.
Only when you see the silver linings can you say 'thank you, next."
