The highs (and some lows) of single life

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Most of us have seen the Bridget Jones movies, Ally MacBeal or Sex in the City. According to these storylines, all single people have just one thing on their minds – not staying single! There are however, some undeniable advantages in being single.   So, for a change, let’s start with praising single life…
Single life definitely means more freedom
Of course, the first advantage of being single is the freedom and the fact that you’re not accountable to anyone anymore. Incidentally, more and more couples are even choosing to retain this freedom while in long-term relationships by living in their own houses (Helena Bonham-Carter and Tim Burton for instance).

Let’s name some of the small pleasurable aspects of freedom if you are single:
You can eat whatever you like. There’s nobody to tell you that you’ve got to watch your figure or to stop you from eating what you like. You can cook all the meals that you love... or not! You can sleep how you like. You’ve now got all the space you need in bed, nobody is going to steal the quilt, snore in your ear or thump you accidentally in the night. What’s more, you can wake up whenever you want. At last... a proper lie-in! You can come home at ridiculous times. Since nobody is waiting for you at home, you don’t have to be back at a certain time. You can go out for the evening with your chums and not come home until daybreak or you can stay at work a bit later without having to justify it to anyone. You can dress how you want to. Do you think that green top and orange trousers are gorgeous? Do you love slobbing around in a tracksuit at the weekend? No problem. It’s now entirely up to you what you wear. (On the other hand of course, you won’t have the benefit of someone else’s sensible advice or admiration on what you’ve put on before you go out...)
These are only some of the ‘highs’ of being single. But you also need to understand that a single life does include some ‘lows’, which you need to know how to deal with in a constructive way.
Single life has a certain price
According to a study by the French National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies, a couple only needs one and a half times a single person’s salary to lead an equivalent lifestyle, because as a couple, they share the rent, electricity bills, heating bills, etc. And what’s more, they pay fewer taxes.

This continues at the supermarket; everything is packaged for two or more people – tins, frozen foods... And individual meals can cost an arm and a leg! Therefore as a single person, it is vital to know how to handle your money. All the more so since you don’t have anyone close at hand (namely, 'better-half') to bail you out if you slip into the red!
The weekday evening singles’ blues
Like many single people, you can occasionally feel a bit down in the dumps, but in the evening you can often feel unbearably lonely... You need to avoid weekday evening loneliness.
The best is to surround yourself with friends, preferably single ones. That way, you’ll always have an evening planned or someone dropping by on the off chance. A job that’s rather time-consuming plus one or two after-work activities will also leave you with little time to get bored and feeling sorry for yourself. Make the most of your time alone to pamper yourself, take up a new learning challenge or hobby – basically get a little more ‘me’ time that you normally would if you were in a relationship.
Finally, don’t forget that being single is not set in stone! You can always change your lifestyle and make a concerted effort to find a new soul mate – but being single is also a state to be enjoyed for it’s own merits.


Louis Asana