Your 20s are a time of reflection, discovery, crippling financial woes and crappy office jobs. Your life changes a lot as you experience these things while you become a genuine adult and pursue relationships. While relationships can seem glamorous during this riveting decade, there are actually some very good reasons to avoid them for awhile:
- There’s a lot of uncertainty during this time in your life. You graduated from college, have a mountain of student loans to pay off and you’re on a questionable career path. It’s hard to say where you’ll end up or what’s going to happen along the way. That’s intimidating. With a situation like that, it’s completely understandable to put relationships on the back burner while you try not to crap yourself in fear when you think about your future.
- Your 20s are a time to seek stability. Dating and relationships throw a lot of doubt into an already tumultuous time in your life-there’s no need to complicate things. There’s nothing wrong with focusing on yourself and getting your act together before you get involved with someone romantically. Being an emotionally and financially stable twenty-something will make you a rare specimen in the dating world.
- Most people your age are in the same situation that you are. Being in your twenties comes with a lot of unfortunate setbacks nowadays, but you’re not alone. Your peers are also fighting for decent jobs, affordable housing and relaxing evenings without debt-related nightmares. Dating will be a circus with chaos like that. Getting into a healthy, functional relationship is still possible, but don’t be shocked when potential partners have the same problems that you have and are wary of dating because of that.
- You should learn how to be happy on your own. Many people are terrified of being alone, so they become serial daters who end up having no clue how to function by themselves. Depending on others for happiness is not a road you want to go down, ever. Your 20s are the perfect time to find satisfaction on your own, and you shouldn’t let that opportunity go to waste.
- There’s no rush. You’re young. You have plenty of time to figure out who you are and what you want. You shouldn’t waste your youth desperately yearning for a relationship just because you want to follow the typical “life script.” It’s important to know why you want certain things instead of blindly doing what everyone expects you to do. You do you, and to hell with anyone who tries to tell you that you have to lock a man down in your twenties.
- Relationships aren’t a necessity. You aren’t going to wither away and die if you aren’t paired up. There are other important things to worry about, and you shouldn’t be stressing out about your relationship status when you’ve only lived a fairly small chunk of your life. A relationship isn’t necessarily an indicator of success, and you shouldn’t treat it that way.
- You should experience true independence at least once. If you focus and work hard, you will eventually reach a point in your life where you’ll be on your own. You won’t have to rely on your parents, roommates or a significant other for rent money-you’ll be able to support yourself fully. Wouldn’t it be great to get to that point while you’re still in your twenties? Relationships can distract you from a goal like that if you’re constantly spending money on your partner or making plans to move in with him. Living on your own is an incredible freedom to have, and it’s a great reason to put off relationships for awhile.
