At 21 years old, I find myself being asked, "are you seeing anyone?" or "so, are you going on any dates at school?" at every family function. Even though these questions annoy me to no end, I grit my teeth and smile while politely saying, "not yet." Considering everyone in my family was either in a relationship or married at my age, I can understand why they ask. Yet at the same time, I am only 21. I'm still in college so while being single is not always ideal, I'm enjoying the time to grow as a person and figure out who I am. I would rather be single for the rest of my life than date someone just to have a cute relationship to show off on Instagram or wind up divorced 10 years from now and two kids later. I would rather wait (sometimes impatiently) for the man God has planned for me than to be dating all the wrong ones.

I have had my fair share of heartbreak and while I have learned from my experiences, I would much rather be single and enjoy some alone time until I meet my future husband instead of giving my heart away to boys who do not deserve the time of day. At this point in my life, I am dating to marry; not dating just to date. Being single in my early 20s has been some of the best years of my life. I have been able to transfer colleges, join a sorority and get accepted into my program for my career without any relationship woes. I have not had to worry whether my boyfriend would get mad if I ditched our plans because my best friend had her heart broken and needed a girl's night. I have not had to be upset over silly arguments because my boyfriend liked his ex-girlfriend's picture on Facebook. Being single has been lonely at times, but this time of my life has also been full of freedom, personal growth, and learning more about myself than I ever imagined possible.

I have some of the most beautiful friends in the world and I truly mean that. However when I seem them in a toxic relationship with guys who treat them wrong and break their hearts, I cannot help but be thankful that I do not have to go through those sort of struggles. Relationships are not easy, I know that from experience. However they are meant to be adventurous, loving, meaningful, and even life-changing. I believe that is why I am so content to wait. I wait because I want the next guy I date to be the man I marry. I want him to be the guy I bring home to meet my family at Thanksgiving or Christmas. I want the next guy I date to be my very best friend and keeper of all my secrets. I want him to cherish me. I want him to love the Lord more than he loves me. I want him to accept that there will always be endless girl's nights with my friends.

I do not ever want to be in a relationship full of doubt and anger. Nor a relationship with no trust and daily arguments. I don't want to be a part of the couple that when we break up someone says "give it a day or two, they'll be back together". I would rather be single than be in any of these kinds of relationships. This is not to say that all relationships are this way because I know that some people are in healthy relationships and with the person that they are meant to be with. I'm referring to the ones who are in a relationship trying to force it to work when they know it is not meant to be. Or the relationships where all they care about is being "goals" for social media instead of having a real relationship. So for now, I'll sit back and relax. I'll try to be patient. I'll focus on me and becoming the best possible version of myself. I'll work on my relationship with the Lord. I'll laugh and I'll cry and I'll read a million books. I'll enjoy being single and happy because at the end of the day, that reality is far better than being in a relationship and miserable.