I'm not saying all relationships are bad. I'm not saying people can't be happy in relationships. I'm not saying love doesn't exist. What I am saying is I'm quitting relationships. I'm not going to go out searching for the perfect boy to make my life happy. I'm not going to wait around for Prince Charming to sweep me off my feet. I'm not going to be the damsel in distress who needs a boy to save her. And I refuse to be the girl who can't be happy unless she's in a relationship. So yes, I am quitting relationships.

I'm not going to sit around and wait for a boy to text me back, just to get my hopes up when he doesn't follow through on plans. I'm not going to waste my nights waiting to see if he'll ask me to do something when I could be out with my girlfriends. I'm certainly not going to take "Netflix and chill" as a date. Call me old fashioned, but I deserve to be taken out on a date, and be treated with respect.

I will not allow my happiness to be dependent on any guy. My happiness is dependent on how satisfied I am with my life, the people I surround myself with, and how happy I choose to be. I've learned I need to love myself before I can allow any boy to love me. I've learned that I can laugh and be happy being single.

When a good boy comes along and proves that though I don't need him, my life would still be enhanced by his being in it, I will gladly reconsider. But until then, I see no reason to search for
fake love, just to get my heart broken, and have to pick myself back up again. I won't waste any more of my tears on a boy who is not as invested as I am.

We live in such a hook-up society, which only means that as a hopeless romantic, I am doomed to get my heart broken. I'll be the one to want something more serious, and he'll want to just add me to his list, making me just another number. I'm not playing this game anymore.

Until I find a man worthy of changing this, I'm going to remain happy, laugh with my friends, and love my life exactly as it is. Do I wish I could be one of the happy couples, one of the girls who get shown off by their boyfriends, and do I wish I felt wanted? Of course I do. But that doesn't mean I'll be unhappy in the meantime.