Well-meaning friends and relatives often ask singles when they’re going to find someone and settle down, as if that’s a requirement to be happy.
Why People Think Singles Can’t be Happy:
You perceive the world as you are, a reflection of your fears and desires, not as it really is. So, if you assume that all singles are sad and need to be in a relationship to be happy, you likely have a fear of being alone.
This is in part because most people are programmed from birth to believe that marriage is a vital part of a happy life.
Past lives can also influence your perception of being single; you may have had some terrible experiences and subconsciously associate being single with misery. Alternatively, people who enjoy being single may have had past life experiences of being forced to marry or unable to leave an abusive relationship.
Also, if you don’t like being single, your personality may be more naturally suited to partnerships, as opposed to those who love their freedom and independence more than being paired off in a conventional relationship.
In reality, there are many valid reasons people choose to remain single, not everyone who is single feels unhappy or lonely, and not everyone who is partnered feels happy or loved.
I’d love to someday see, as part of grade school and high school curriculum, young people taught to learn to be happy on your own and know yourself well. If that were to become a trend, the divorce, cheating, and unhappily partnered rates might begin to decline.
Copyright © 2015 Stephen Petullo
