7 Unexpected Benefits Of Being Single..

There’s something really gratifying about knowing you’re not being swept along with the crowd just for the hell of it. “You’re being true to yourself,” New York–based relationship expert and author April Masini tells Bustle. “Getting a date — even getting married — is not that difficult. But doing it on your terms because you’re ready and you think your partner is the right one takes discrimination, hard work and time… You’re living your life and being true to yourself by doing your diligence and living honestly.”

Knowing that you’re being authentic and demonstrating good judgement is a huge benefit.

3 Your Life Isn’t Stuck On A Certain Trajectory

Once you’re coupled up, there’s an expectation: Move in, marriage, babies. Even if you don’t do any of those things, you’re still constantly fighting against that expectation. “Society promotes, encourages, and rewards coupledom and particularly marriage,” relationship therapist Aimee Hartstein, LCSW, tells Bustle. “This is particularly hard on single women because unmarried men are portrayed as ‘sowing their oats’ or ‘playing the field’ while unmarried women are considered to be old maids that are left on the shelf.”

But the upside is, if you’re single, you’re not following that script— and so you can write your own expectations.

4 Fewer Responsibilities

Being in a relationship can be amazing, but it also means taking on a lot of responsibilities and priorities that weren’t yours to begin with. Their friends, their family, their needs — all of these can take up a lot of time and a lot of energy.

“I think that some people are meant to be single,” psychologist Nikki Martinez tells Bustle. “They are confident, they love their lives, they love the ability to have no deep-rooted responsibilities that would keep them from doing things at the drop of a hat.” And there’s nothing wrong with that.