Right now I have no interest in being with someone else. I love that I am young (24 years old) and free to continue to pursue my ambitions goals and dreams. I see young people my age who have married, and am dissapointed because they seem to just settle rather than going further with their talents and ambitions. They become domestic, static and uninteresting. As well at this stage in my life I have yet to find a woman who genuinely interests me.
I may sound bigoted about this, but I really feel great about being single. I am in complete control of my life, and I hope it stays that way for a while longer. I raise a glass to all who feel the same.
If you’re genuinely happy about your status, I’m glad to hear it. From the way so many people
talk about being single, it’s easy to get the idea that nobody is truly happy without a partner.
I am not going to knock coupled people. If they’re happy, well, good for them too. However, I guess I’m pretty similar to you. I am 23 and very much single. I refuse to get into a relationship just for the sake of not being alone, so I keep waiting for someone who truly appeals to me and excites me to show up. However, so far it seems like I just can’t meet men who are truly compatible with me.
Fortunately, for the most part, I’m quite happy with how my life is. I get lonely at times, but reaching out to friends can often help with that. There are other times when I love having so much privacy and freedom, and not having to answer to anyone else about what I choose to do.
Me too. And perfectly happy. At my older brother’s wedding about 10 years ago, my aunt asked my how it was that I was the only one of the family not married (she has 4 kids, all married, two now divorced). I replied that it was because I was on the only one with any sense, which effectively ended the conversation.
At the age of (nearly) 45 I have no problems with being single. There are days that I come home and I wish there were someone to be with, but there are as many days that I am glad to be alone. Those days are about split.
I have to supress a smile when I see people 10 years younger than me who used to sneer at me for being 30+ and single with no kids, struggling to cope with the kids they now have…
I’m not “proud” of it, but I do love being single, and I am more than twice Quasimodal’s age. I’m not the marrying kind, and have never had the slightest desire to have children.
Good for people who are happy en famille; I wish them all the best. It would just never work for me.
37 never married, no kids, and quite happy. I wouldn’t mind a fuck buddy but those type arrangements usually end up with one person or the other looking for more. I’m happy to flirt with the women I know and leave it at that.
I read somewhere that for many, if not most, guys, in their 20’s the cons of a serious relationship (marriage) outweigh the pro’s, and that that balance only shifts as they approach 30.
More power to all of you. I used to feel that way, now I’m not so sure. I love certain aspects of being single, but I love certain aspects of relationships too.
Happy for you, Quasi - I’m also 24 and unmarried, although I’ve been seeing a great girl for the last few months. I have good friends who are getting close to marriage, though. Earlier this year, it looked like between late May and early June, I’d be going to three weddings. Now it’s down to two, fortunately for all concerned.
I wonder about your notion of people settling, though. I can’t attest to it one way or the other, but maybe the settling has more to do with who the people are and not the fact that they’ve gotten married. Single or not, some people will probably settle down and some won’t.
It’s something I’ve wondered too. Some of these people were so ridiculously talented but as time went by they just decided to become comfortable. They still are good people and are good workers, but I just don’t see much passion in them anymore. I have always felt that unless a person tries to work against it, we are naturally driven to be comfortable. Thats what I see around me, people who have worked hard to get where they are, then they become comfortable, and the passion stops. Usually marriage sets in closely before or after is what I’ve found…but thats only me personal experience.
It won’t happen to me, even if I’m surrounded by it!
Have you single people thought about what happens when you get old? When my wife had eye problems this year, we were both happy I was around to drive her to the doctor, and the hospital. My brother just got married at over 50, and I was happy that he was happy, and also happy that he won’t have to go through old age alone.
This is a practical question, not an emotional one.
You get old whether you’re married or not. And if you happen to be married when you get old, then at some point one of you dies. Preferably it’s before the other has been forced to be a nursemaid for twenty years.
Seriously, I’ve never thought that “not wanting to be alone in my old age” is sufficient reason to get married. If I find a person so wonderful that I can’t imagine my life without him, and would be happy to wipe applesauce off his chin, **that’s ** a good reason to get married.
I’m already used to dealing with needing a ride to or from someplace from time to time. It’s generally solved with a taxi or car rental. If I really need to I’ll bug a friend for a ride. As I’m not at the medical stage yet it’s maybe twice a year that I’m without my own car. I don’t think getting married for personal taxi service is a good deal.
I have nothing against marriage. It may not be for me, but that doesn’t reflect on it’s inherent value. I know quite a few ecstatically happy married people, and I’m thrilled for them. It’s a beautiful thing to find someone you can be happy with for the rest of your life.
I just think that a lot of people get married *just * to not be alone, and I find being happy alone vastly preferable to being unhappy with the wrong person.
Heh. I thought the same thing when I read the thread title. To be “proud” of being single, wouldn’t you have to willfully make yourself as unattractive and repulsive as possible to the opposite sex?
I didn’t marry until I was 40. My brother and sister have never married. We were all in committed relationships at one time or another over our lives. I’ve never looked at it as a barometer for success. It just seemed like the right thing to do.
However, I guess I’m pretty similar to you. I am 23 and very much single. I refuse to get into a relationship just for the sake of not being alone, so I keep waiting for someone who truly appeals to me and excites me to show up. However, so far it seems like I just can’t meet men who are truly compatible with me.