I really enjoyed Catherine Gray's writing style in The Unexpected Joy of Being Sober, so I read this. At weddings, I have felt my smile crack. One of the joys of being single is it gives you the time to focus on your career to do what you need to become a master in your field. I was deeply embarrassed to put her name as my next of kin. Singles can focus on work and careers. With a mainstream show like ‘The Big Bang Theory’ representing all singles as lonely losers sitting at home crying to themselves on Saturday night or singing to sappy music aka Bridget Jones style, it’s … I was really shocked. Singles can focus on their health. 1. I’m not single, but I could be at any given time (as could we all) and there's good stuff in here about how bizarre our fixation on coupling up and reproducing are as well as how destructive these societal pressures can be for those who choose or have remained single. I once walked out of a friend’s book launch when he gave a speech about finding the love of his life. When I was a child, I thought it was easy. When my father died, 47 years later, he was still bringing her flowers. I felt sick with envy, physically sick. When I got breast cancer, at 39, it was my mother who looked after me when I came out of hospital. For the rest of their three-week German course, they wandered through the cobbled streets of the old town, quoted Goethe and talked about Kleist. Being single has given me opportunities and experiences that I never would have had if I had married at a young age. You are able to live as you please without being constrained by a partner. February 14th is the most unwelcomed day for half of the population - the single people. What about all the dating? So did Sex and the City, which made me realise that I was lucky that I had never yet been asked to pee on a man in bed. I didn’t tell anyone what I was doing. What do you mean, I don’t want to meet someone? Christina Patterson used to be ashamed about being single, but after hearing others’ stories, that feeling has gone. You can live the life you desire on your own terms. If you’re an Architect, you could probably be the one writing this article. Diplomat Personality Types. I had my parents’ example. I’m convinced most people in long-term relationships are secretly miserable. ‘I had just been dumped by yet another charming narcissist’: Christina Patterson. I decided to write it because I had just been made redundant and found myself facing my 50th birthday without a partner, a family, or a job. It's true, being single is great and here are some reasons why... *You never have to watch Monday Night Football *You can use all the hot water *You can eat cold pizza for breakfast and jellybeans & coke for dinner *My personal fav... you can sit in a chair and read a novel cover to cover without feeling guilty. I go to Italy to read, look out at a sun-drenched hillside and dream. I didn’t understand why my friends had managed to succeed in an area where I had so spectacularly failed. Being single is only natural; it is when we are with someone that things are likely to get awry. Which is probably why it did. I was born in Rome and the tug of Italy, its sunshine, its beauty and of course its wine, has always been strong. The Joys of Being Single, by Personality Type Analyst Personality Types. You are in charge of your own diet and exercise regimen. This may require networking with the right people and passing the right exams to get the higher position job title. Sure, it’s nice to have a partner to cuddle with, but relationships can also be terribly inconvenient. Singles develop skills. In honor of singles everywhere this Valentine’s Day, here’s my list of the joys of being single. When I lost my virginity, a few months after I left the church, my main feeling was relief. At my girls’ grammar school, none of us knew any boys. Now I never need to worry about what I’m going to do on holiday. They joys of being single, I mean. Not all single folks are called to a Vocation of priesthood or consecrated life. Diane Keaton In addition to being an Oscar–winning actress, Keaton is also a … I didn’t understand why my friends had managed to succeed in an area where I had so spectacularly failed. Over bottles of sauvignon, we would swap stories from the frontline: of waiting in a bar for a man whose photo looked a bit like George Clooney, and then watching a grizzled wreck shuffle in. I met a man who took his lapdog on gourmet holidays round the south of France. The night after the summer ball, where we danced and kissed as we watched the sun rise, he told me he was very sorry, but it was over. Singles should embrace the values of the single life. But when you're single, no one judges you. Everyone is so worried about being alone in the world because they want that special someone in their life but, there are plenty of things to do while you are still single but, when you finally realize it the opportunity to have it is too late because you have wasted you time trying to find that special someone in your life. Single Again: Three Ways to Move on After a Divorce, Why Staying Single in Your 20s is the Optimal Option, 18 Reasons Why Someone May Choose To Be Childfree, How Singles Can Host A Super Bowl LV Party. You can be as lazy as you want. The single life is meant to be a life of joy. My mother carried a bouquet of cornflowers and pink roses. The Joys of Singlehood in the Holiday SeasonAs the saying goes, 'tis the season to be jolly. I didn’t understand how other people saw these signals I always seemed to miss. It was, they always said, love at first sight. How does the single, middle-aged woman live when she's not relegated to the role of the cautionary tale, the punchline spinster, the wacky aunt whose family suffers her visits out of … You can travel on a whim. I talked to my friend Winston, who broke his back when he fell off a roof, through a glass ceiling and landed on a purple coffin. They tend to believe their singleness won’t last forever, while, at the same time, fear that it might. It costs about £250,000 to bring up a child in London, apparently. One man told me, just after we’d had sex, that he was “determined to hold out for something good”. The Joys of Being Single – #1 I know single people, for the most part, are waiting for the day that they won’t be single anymore. For most of this time, I felt as if my friends with partners and families were proper grown-ups and I was not. "Being single means you can have the person you have long, meaningful conversations with, one you dance with, one you do the foodie thing with, one you travel with—you get the idea," notes Kim Olver , a licensed counselor and author of Secrets of Happy Couples .