Why Your Relationship With Yourself Is The Most Important One You’ll Ever Have

Being single isn’t the worst thing in the world. While you might start worrying about being forever alone or the future owner of 57 cats, rolling solo is something you should be extremely proud of. You’re already in a serious relationship, and even though you might not realize it, it’s the most important one of all.

1. You spend time doing the things you love.If you had a man in your life, you would be sharing your free time to accommodate his interests, too. That isn’t a bad thing, but when it’s just you dictating the ways you live your life, you’ll spend all your time doing exactly the things you want to do. It’s a pretty great feeling being able to pick and choose how you want to spend your days in the here and now.
2. You take care of your needs.You only rely on yourself to supply the things you need in life. The responsibility falls all on you; there’s no back-up or alternative, so you’ve learned and mastered the art of keeping your act together and providing yourself with the basic necessities of life and then some.
3. You make your own happiness.Sure, no one’s going that extra mile to put a smile on your face right now, but in the meantime, you’re doing it yourself. You’re treating yourself well, keeping a healthy social life and you own your status and find reasons to smile anyway, even if you don’t have love.
4. You reward yourself when you’re doing well.It’s nice to get surprise romantic gestures or little trinkets around the holidays. It’s also nice to have someone to routinely celebrate life’s little milestones with. Until that person finally comes around, you’re doing those things for yourself. You reward yourself and toast your accomplishments in life, because you deserve it.
5. You make choices to benefit your future.You might not be looking at homes and baby cribs with Mr. Right, but you’re still making choices, and every choice you’re making now and every plan you put into motion is entirely for yourself. When you’re single, you’re not stressing about fitting someone else into the equation. Someday you will be, but right now it’s nice to have free range to dream up amazing ideas for just you.
6. You get yourself through tough times.You don’t have someone to come home to who’s going to give you a great big hug and tell you everything is going to be OK, so you’ve developed your own personal pick-me-up ritual. Bad days happen to all of us, and getting through them without relying on someone else to cheer you up is an amazing strength that will serve you well not just right now but also in future relationships to come.
7. You pick up the slack in the absence of a partner.When it’s just you, there is no option to slack off for too long, because stuff needs to get done and no one’s going to do it for you. You motivate yourself and you’re the one who carries out your responsibilities. Even when you’re having one of those days when the world seems to be against you, you’re strong enough to get things handled.
8. You know that not having someone right now doesn’t make you unworthy.Being single doesn’t mean you’re alone — it just means that you aren’t in a relationship with another human being. You might not be spending all your days with someone else by your side, but technically you are. You have you. Your status here and now doesn’t mean you’re less than those in a relationship. It doesn’t make you unworthy or tragic. It just means for the here and now, you’re nurturing a different kind of relationship: the one with yourself.