14 Benefits of Being Single (2024)

As Valentine's Day approaches and descends upon us, lots of restaurants, greeting card companies, flower shops, candy manufacturers, jewelry stores, and other folks trying to sell stuff may be making you feel that you are the only single person around.

In actuality, you've got plenty of company. A 2019 survey by the Pew Research Center found that 31% of adults responding were not partnered with anyone. And of these single folks, half were not actively looking to change their situation. This suggests that many people may prefer being single over what they may have available to them at the moment.

Yes, even though having a significant other and being married are portrayed by rom-coms, advertisers, and many who are coupled as being the optimal states, that's not necessarily true. Sure, it can be wonderful if you've truly found the right match for you. How many people, though, have found their true matches, their soulmates, their gloves to their hands, their hot dogs to their buns?

Remember, there are many benefits to remaining unhitched, especially when you compare it to being attached to someone who is not a great match for you. Since Valentine's Day falls on February 14, here are 14 of those benefits:

1. You alone can decide what to do with your time. If you want to spend the next four hours binge-watching videos of marmots eating various food items, so be it.
2. You can travel anywhere, anytime you'd like. As long as you have the resources and general wherewithal to do so, as that Starship song goes, nothing's going to stop you now.
3. You can pick up and maintain any hobbies of interest. Have you always wanted to take up cheese rolling, chainsaw wood sculpting, zombie portrait painting, or Quidditch? Go for it.
4. You won't have to make career or life-goal sacrifices for someone else. When you are on the same page with a significant other, he or she may help your career. But the opposite is true when you aren't. For example, years ago when I wanted to pursue writing and my significant other at the time tried to discourage it, it was a good move to eventually write off her and that relationship.
5. You can hang out with anyone. Yeah, "We just hit off" doesn't quite work when your partner asks where were you all weekend and what were you doing with that person.
6. You may have more time to build your friendships and social circles. Ever notice how some friends totally disappear when they find a significant other?
7. You can spare yourself conflict and a whole lot of drama. A partner who is not the right fit can bring a lot of fireworks into your life—just not the good kind of fireworks.
8. You could end up saving more money. Sure, marriage brings tax benefits and couples can save on hotel rooms and some Groupons. However, having a partner can end up being very expensive if the two of you are not on the same financial page.
9. You can wear whatever you want and decorate your place in any manner. That includes wearing a toga around home all day and having your apartment look like the modern-day Rome Coliseum, ruins and all.
10. You can get to know yourself and what you want a lot better. The wrong partner can be like having a narrator for the documentary of your life when that narrator hasn't even read your script.
11. You can take better care of yourself. When you tend to be the giver in a relationship, you can forget about taking care of yourself mentally, emotionally, and physically when you are with the wrong partner.
12. You can have more room to grow. Being in the wrong relationship can be like wearing leg warmers, a velour tracksuit, and a sweater vest that are all way too tight.
13. You can become stronger, more independent, and more self-reliant. A funny thing happens when you have to make your own decisions. You get better at making your own decisions.
14. You can ultimately become a better partner and have a better relationship when the right person finally comes along. Continuously jumping from relationship to relationship may not allow you the time to reflect on what you continue to do wrong and what you need to improve about yourself. You may then keep repeating the same misguided relationship cycles.

Of course, the right partner can help you with a lot of things listed above as well. For example, the right partner can motivate you to exercise regularly and even be your burpee buddy.

But finding the right match is not easy. It can take time, timing, life experience, and quite a bit of luck or whatever you want to call the ebbs and flows of the universe. Being stuck with the wrong person can leave you feeling weaker, prevent you from doing what you want to do in life, and keep you from finding the right person. And you never know when the right person may enter your life.

Plus, desiring and having a relationship may not be the focus of your life. You may be perfectly happy and fulfilled being single. Either way, if you are single for this Valentine's Day, don't fret. Instead, count every single blessing that your current single situation brings.