So many people have come up to me and asked me about my love life: "Are you seeing anybody?" "Any lucky ladies in your life?"
My answer is usually some sort of sarcastic remark like: "Oh yeah, every lady I meet is pretty lucky because I'm so awesome." But the truth is, it's pretty stagnant... and I'm okay with that.
Something that I've noticed pretty passively about my generation is that we are so wrapped up in the idea of a relationship. I've always been very distant about the whole idea. I want any relationship I enter into to be worth it. I want to pursue something life-long. I'm not about pouring my time and energy into being with a girl who isn't looking for marriage. Call these old fashioned values or whatever, I just find it more worth my time to pursue meaningful relationships.
Anybody hear of this "Single Awareness Day" nonsense? We really need a day to spend "celebrating" being single right after a day we celebrate being in a relationship? The day after Valentine's Day is now Single Awareness Day (humiliatingly abbreviated as 'SAD'... really, people?) because apparently, we need to reiterate that it is okay to be single. My question is: What do we need to be aware of? I'm not quite sure what there is to be aware of about single people, but I sort of understand why we need to spread so-called 'awareness'.
Worth is found, by so many, in who people are with. Their significant other defines their personality, dictates their happiness, and shapes their being. Human worth doesn't lie in these things. I'm not saying I'm perfect--hardly. Do you know how many great girls I've lost because I've been too hesitant on letting them in? Because I didn't want to "ruin" a good friendship? Because I worked in my own timing, in my own thoughts? It's all a learning process, though. I'm confident that when I find "the one", the timing and the awkwardness won't matter.
I am 21 years old and single... and I'm saying that we don't need Single's Awareness Day... and the fact that people feel so insecure about being single is just, well... SAD (see what I did there?).
Finding confidence in yourself is key to jumping into a good relationship. If you're single and stressed out about it and you really need a "Singles Awareness Day" celebration to perk you up, then you're probably not ready for a relationship in the first place. Your worth doesn't lie in the relationships you have. The fact that our culture sets aside a day to "make people see that it's OK to be single" just screams volumes about where our values lie right now. We're definitely not as independent as a people as we claim to be if that has to be screamed from the rooftops and turned into an event.
If you're in a relationship that is a functioning, well-oiled machine, then good for you! I'm happy for you! If you're single and happy, that's awesome! But in reality: Who cares what I think about you and your relationship status? That's the problem is that we all care too much about the opinions and the realities of others and comparing where we are to where "they" are. Let's stop putting so much focus as a society on who we're with for our happiness.
While the people behind Singles Awareness Day were probably making it a jab to abbreviate it to SAD (because it's "oh-so-sad" to be single), I think the true sadness is that they believe that's the case... or that they believe we need to care so much about what people think.
