Being single is often viewed as a temporary state that people should get out of as soon as possible. People stay in bad relationships or relationships they don’t find fulfilling because they think it’s better than being alone. This mentality leads to people living with less satisfying relationships than they want, need, or deserve. Instead of fearing the single life, learning to celebrate and embrace being single can help you to develop and sustain more fulfilling relationships and live a happier and more satisfying life both in and out of relationships. In this blog, we’ll talk a bit about how to celebrate singleness and reframe the narrative around being single.
It’s Not Just Okay to Be Single – It’s Great!
Before we explore ways to specifically celebrate being single, let’s make one thing abundantly clear – there is nothing wrong with being single. At any age. At any life stage. If you don’t have a romantic relationship in your life, you are still a complete and whole and healthy person. You don’t need to settle for whatever is available rather than having nothing. Mainly because you won’t have nothing. You’ll have yourself, your friends, your family members. Being single is the best thing for us a lot of the time. If we remove the pressures to be in a relationship and just embrace being single, we become happier, more fulfilled versions of ourselves who are better able to open up to more meaningful relationships if and when we find the right person.
How to Celebrate Being Single – Especially if You’re Feeling Lonely
Alright, now that we have that settled, let’s talk about specific ways that you can really enjoy and celebrate being single, including:
- Make yourself a priority – when we’re in relationships, we often prioritize the other person’s needs over our own. When we’re single, we are able to prioritize our own needs without any guilt. If you regularly prioritize your own wants and needs when you’re single, you’ll be more likely to maintain those priorities in your relationships.
- Develop your personal interests – in relationships, we compromise to find activities both people can enjoy together, and that’s great. Relationships help us to explore and learn to like new things. However, after a relationship ends, it can seem like we don’t even remember what our interests and hobbies were. While you’re single, take some time to revisit old interests and activities and cultivate new ones.
- Strengthen friendships – we’re all guilty of spending less time on our relationships with friends and family members when we’re in romantic relationships, especially new ones. Our friends and loved ones will understand but making time to prioritize and strengthen these other relationships when we’re single can help fight off feelings of loneliness and isolation. Good friendships also take the pressure off of romantic partnerships, so it doesn’t feel like one person is providing for all of your emotional needs, which can lead to healthier and more satisfying romantic partnerships in the future.
Want to Talk Relationships & Single Life?
If you do want to cultivate more fulfilling relationships and you feel like you’re struggling to make connections, therapy can actually be a beneficial resource. During therapy, you can make time to consider your past and present romantic relationships, your goals and expectations for the ideal partner, and areas where you’re willing to make compromises. You can also learn better communication skills and strategies for navigating relationship difficulties to increase intimacy bonds for more satisfying relationships. If any of this sounds like it would be beneficial, the LMV Counseling team would love to hear from you. To get started working with us, complete our online scheduling form.
