1. When you see couples fight in public
Is there any time being single is more appreciated than when you see those cringeworthy couples having noticeable, loud, and public arguments? No, there really isn’t. Every time you see this, recognize that you probably overall have less arguments (and therefore probably lower blood pressure) than all your coupled friends.
2. Bachelor/Bachelorette Parties
If weddings and wedding receptions exist to remind single people that slow love songs will always be a thing meant for couples, bachelor and bachelorette parties are a reminder that being single has its perks. Whatever you do and don’t do at these parties, if you’re single, no one can make you feel guilty about any of it. Your friends in relationships though? They have to settle for “mom” status most times.
3. Summer
If winter is for coupled people, summer (and probably spring) is for singletons to meet and mingle. Summer is not only a great time to date, thanks to the endless outdoor activities that are now available to you, but it’s also a time for short and sweet summer love if that’s your prerogative. It’s simple really, unlike people in relationships, you don’t have commitments that would require you to walk away from that incredibly attractive person you met at the farmer’s market or glow sticks festival. (I don’t know what you’re into.)
4. Being on your own life schedule
Being in a relationship means constantly having to take somebody else’s life plans into consideration. Compromise is part of what makes relationships beautiful, but also really hard. When you’re single, it’s not so much that you’re going to pick up tomorrow and travel, or move to that city that you’ve always wanted to live, or join the circus, it’s that you could if you wanted, and without considering a significant other. However you look at it, there is simply more freedom in being single, and sometimes that’s a good thing.
5. You can have laser focus on your career/professional development
Cultivating and maintaining committed relationships takes time and effort. When you’re single, you can expend that time and effort on your career more than you can when you’re in a relationship. It is true that you can have a good career and a healthy relationship – nobody is saying that’s impossible. But the truth of time is that you only have so much of it, and if a relationship is something you have to spend time doing, being single means that ordinarily, you have more time to dedicate to another aspect of your life – your career. Certainly, you might not want to do so, but you still can.
6. Solitude
Whether a little or a lot of it, most people need solitude. When you’re in a relationship, sometimes it may be hard to communicate this, or it may conflict with your significant other’s desire to spent time with you at particular times. That aside, being in a relationship means giving up a portion of your solitude. You know who doesn’t have this problem? Single people. Being single means having a much easier time enjoying sweet, sweet solitude.
7. Decision-making
Decision-making and how to go about it, becomes one of the cornerstones of adulthood. When you’re in a relationship, you have someone to figure out life’s difficulties with, and that can be really nice. When you fly solo however, you learn how to do for yourself what significant others do for each other – face the uncertainty of life and your choices. Sure, you may have family and friends to help you along the way, but you are mostly the person in charge of your life. However daunting it can be sometimes, there is something uniquely powerful about doing it on your own.