This is funny that I am writing this. The girl who seems to always be in a relationship. My last relationship was very serious, meant a lot to me and still does. But it almost seemed too important that I was experiencing this picture-perfect idea of love, that we were mastering the long-distance relationship, and that we were best friends and lovers all in one. These are all things we seem to frequently and frantically search for, starting before we even reach our teen years. I don’t blame us. The movies we watched while growing up corrupted our minds into believing that we should look for love at age 15, that we need to fall in love when we’re younger and that it will be the best thing to ever happen. Now I am not saying that it isn’t. Being in love is an enchanting thing. It is wildly beautiful. You get to conquer the world with your other half, while getting to grow with them. What can be better than that? I’ve contemplated this over and over again. Between the issues in my past relationships and the break up that left me feeling empty, I finally decided to look at the bigger picture and say, “Stop this. Now what the hell is wrong with being single?”

Why do you always need to have someone there? You don’t. I realized that I was using all of my time and energy to giving so much love within these relationships, that I didn’t leave any to give to myself. I was constantly striving to make others happy, not even in just a romantic relationship sense, but within friendships as well. It wasn’t until I started traveling abroad that I realized that Iam what is most important to me. Yes, this may sound arrogant, but why shouldn’t you look out for your own happiness first? At the end of the day, it is your life that you are living. I’ve spent so much time during my life attempting to make others happy with me and trying to prove myself to them, but for what reason? The only person that has to be happy with me is me.

There is no better feeling than being pleased with yourself as a person. After being involved in a few serious relationships, I would normally say that there is no better feeling than being truly in love, and this is still true. But little did I know that these relationships failed because both times, neither of us were truly happy with ourselves. I am not saying that dating young is a recipe for disaster, I’m the furthest from against it. I strongly believe in true love, and believe it can come at any time in your life. But if you’re not happy with yourself first, it’s going to be hard to find and/or stabilize. I am completely and utterly content with being single right now. Waking up each day and conquering this world on my own, with genuine friends and family by my side is plenty for me for now, until the time comes where I’m ready to date again. I have learned to look in the mirror and be proud of who I’ve become, whether that is with or without someone. If you’re alone right now, don’t stress it. Embrace it. Learn to be OK with it. No one will love you better than you.