That title is clickbait.

But it is true.

We live in a world that values individuality, but at the same time places couples on a pedestal. We pressure couples to meet the expectations we have set for them. We are heartbroken when they break up. We get angry when they get back together. All while saying "you don't need a significant other to live in this world."

So many young people in our society, girls in particular. Value the opinion of others and more specifically people of the opposite gender. They want someone to validate their feelings and love them. They see it all the time - in movies, on billboards, on commercials, in church, in school, everywhere. The idea of being in a relationship makes you have more worth is consuming them.

I've heard many people say there is a pressure on people to get married young, but I say there is more of a pressure to just not be single. Young people don't necessarily want the marriage, they want what comes with it. The support, the love, the togetherness.

When we tell people that they are better with someone else we allow them to define themselves as less than because they are single.

We force people who are single to feel shame. We tell them that since they are this age and are single they will never have a serious relationship. We put singleness on a timeline and don't tell anyone that this timeline varies.

Singleness is a season, not a stage of life. You don't have to accomplish being single to move on to the next thing. You may be single for one semester of college then be engaged the next. You may not have your first relationship until your senior year of high school or you may start going on dates in 8th grade. That's just life.

You allow your singleness to define you when you start defining your worth based off of it.

If you think that because you don't have a significant other you aren't as valuable as a peer who does, then you are absolutely correct. You gave yourself that definition. You defined your own worth in that statement.

You cannot measure who you are or the season you are in based on other people.