10 Big Ways Single is Better than Coupled-Up

Oh yes, it can be better, let me show you the ways!

We live in a society that caters to couples and families, and puts them on a pedestal above all else. It’s easy to see all the ways being in a couple could be better than being single – sharing expenses, having someone to help with things, having someone to travel with, the list goes on. It’s also easy to lose sight of the ways that being single can be better than being coupled up. I’ve actually had single people tell me that there’s nothing better about being single than there is about being in a relationship. Seriously? Tell that to all my ex-boyfriends! There’s good and bad to everything, right, and this includes being single. Personally, my single life is SO MUCH BETTER than any relationship I ever had, even the ones that were good for a while. Part of that is because I started focusing on all the good things about being single instead of all the bad. In fact, before I started focusing on all those good things, I was failing to even recognize them. Maybe I was even one of those single people who didn’t think there WAS anything better about being single. Wow! Well, all that has changed for the better, and I’m going share with you ten big reasons you can be thankful you’re single every SINGLE day!

10 Big Ways

1. No in-laws, step-kids, even friends-of-partner you don’t like. If you’re lucky, you end up with great in-laws you love, your blended family ends up being the best thing that ever happened to you, and you can’t imagine your life without your significant other’s friends. But how often do you hear of any of these things happening? More likely you get a mother-in-law who’s all up in your business, you spend years doing battle with the ex-spouse parent of your partner’s kids, and your bank account takes a hit when said partner has to bail their friends out of jail. Again. I think you can be really thankful all you have to deal with is your own family!
2. Having the whole bed to yourself. This sounds so small and insignificant, but it’s so not. I know many married couples who’ve taken the plunge and started sleeping in separate beds. But it takes them years of discomfort to do so because they think it says something negative about their marriage. No, it says something positive about their comfort and well-being. When you’re single you get the whole bed to yourself. Every single night. And you get to pick the size of your bed, the brand, the firmness level, all of that. Your sleeping comfort is all you all the time!
3. No one’s lying to you, cheating on you, abusing you, or even fighting with you. The first three are no-brainers when it comes to being thankful, but even the fourth one is under-rated. I remember a time when I was still desperately searching for a mate and I came into work one morning as usual. I sat down at my desk and started listening to all the married people around me talk about the fights they’d had with their spouses the night before. It seemed like they’d ALL fought. Then I thought about the evening I’d had. I went home, took off my bra, made popcorn for dinner, and binged Netflix on the sofa with the cats til bedtime. Something I would’ve seen as boring the day before all of a sudden became the best night ever. Was I thankful for being single that morning? You bet!
4. No one else is determining your life for you. You do what you want when you want. You eat what you want. You engage in the activities you want to do. You come and go as you please. You take the job in another city if you want to. You get a dog if you want to. You sell the house and travel if the mood strikes you. You plan your future exactly the way you want it to play out, with no input from or consideration for someone else. I’ve had single people tell me that they hate making all the decisions themselves, and I’m not going to lie, there are times when you just want someone else to take care of things. But imagine having to compromise on some or maybe even most of what you want for your life? Married people do this all the time and they don’t even realize it. Until they do. When I asked a widowed friend how she felt about her second chapter of life, she said two words, “The freedom!”
5. All of your money is your own. Yes, the financial struggles of the single person are real. In fact, I jokingly tell friends that the only way I would ever get into a relationship is if the guy were stinkin’ rich. It would be nice to have that second income and share expenses, no doubt. But at the same time, the money you do have is yours to do with whatever you want. And you don’t have to worry about someone else squandering it on their gambling addiction or draining your bank account to run off with their secretary. You say what, where, how and when. Maybe not having a second income isn’t so bad?
6. You get the whole house to yourself, to do with what you want. Remember how you had your own room when you were a kid and your room was sacred? You got to decorate however you wanted and no one was allowed in without your permission? As a single adult, you get to have your whole house as your room! You can make the entire house pink if you want. And you can keep it nice and clean or leave it a mess, whatever you want, without being annoyed by another person’s cleaning habits. You also don’t have to have someone else’s crap around. No one’s stuff is allowed in your room! I can picture you tacking up that KEEP OUT sign right now!
7. You don’t have to ask permission for anything. You do you! You also don’t have to tell anyone what you’re doing or check-in with anyone, unless you want to. You stopped being a child long ago, and being single and charge of yourself is the purest expression of that. Again, “The freedom!”
8. You don’t have to compromise how you spend your time. If you want to go out, you go out. If you want to stay in, you stay in. You don’t have to attend any function you don’t want to attend, nor spend time with people you don’t want to spend time with. You get to fill up every minute of every day with exactly what you want in it. Ahhhh!
9. You’re not worried about someone else evaluating your looks. How many times have you lost weight, changed your hair, or started wearing hooker heels because the person in your life wanted you to? Hey, losing weight is great, but it should be because you want to, not for fear of someone leaving you because you’re too fat. And we all know about the 40+ women trying to look 25 so their husbands don’t trade them in for younger models. Yikes! Aren’t you glad you’re not dealing with that?
10. We’ll end on a lighthearted one. You get to take advantage of perks in public places. You can get in the “single rider” line at amusement parks and ski resorts, and get that ride in all the faster. You can see that Broadway show that has only single seats left. You can get into that jam-packed new restaurant that has just one seat at the bar. We often see going and doing things by ourselves as a compromise, but these are times to be thankful you’re on your own!

Feeling good?

There you go, 10 big ways being single can be better than being in a couple. The grass is always greener on the other side, right, but it’s really not, it’s just a different shade of green!