Having a significant other is amazing. I love my boyfriend more than anything but after more than a year of hanging out with him, I decided I needed to stop. No im not saying I left him or stopped hanging out with him completely, I simply just made a limit of the number of days we spend together and reevaluated the time we did spend with one another.

When I first started dating my boyfriend I spent every day with him. As soon as school or work ended, we were eating dinner together or going out to do something. I couldn't get enough time with him. But as time went on, the days I did spend alone due to our conflicting schedules, I found I didn't know how to be alone anymore. I would lay there and wonder "What am I supposed to do?" "What do I like doing alone anymore?"

I feel like this is an issue many of us face, but do not want to admit. We want to be around our significant other as much as possible because they are a huge part of our lives, but even if they are the person you are spending forever with, you need to know how to love your own time alone just as much as you love your time with them.

Now some may say well that is kind of hard if you are cohabitating, but alone time can be found even if the other person is still around. For example, one person can sit and watch tv in the living room while another wants to spend time alone in the bedroom reading a book or playing video games. You can go to movies without the other (no it's not weird.) You can hang out with friends or go to a coffee shop and just play on your computer alone. You would be amazed after a while, how you will enjoy the silence and love having your own passions again. For instance, I love Project Runway and my boyfriend loves NBA2K. He would rather die than watch project runway and I would rather die than to sit and watch him place his game. So we just started doing these things apart. People always will tell you relationships are about compromise and learning to put up with the things your significant other loves when you could care less about them, but this should only be in moderation.

Learn to love yourself. I know everyone will tell you that, but until you are truly happy just spending time alone, doing what you love, and don't feel like you need to count down the hours until you see your loved one again, then you probably aren't ready to have a serious relationship. I see so many young people getting married young, there is no problem with that, just make sure you know who you are outside of your partner. This will not only lead to a happier you but a happier relationship in the long run.

Love yourself first, then all else will fall into place.