Recently, a friend sent me this article on how to be alone and in doing so, be happy with yourself and not rely on a soulmate to make you happy. Love, monogamy, the positive impact of being alone, and what that means for our relationships — the difference of loneliness and alone. “I want to be with someone else who also wants to be alone,” he stated.

I grow anxious around my friends who don’t believe in love. I grow equally anxious around my friends who believe that marriage is the only choice and having a family is the only true vision of happiness. The important part of life is to enjoy yourself — waiting for someone else to complete you will never make you complete. Love is great, but it’s at the greatest when we can appreciate ourselves, perhaps it can only exist when that happens. Being alone is great, but I believe to be vulnerable with our fellow human beings is the reason we’re alive.

I once read a quote that essentially said: your person should compliment you, not complete you. These simple words changed how I viewed life. Pop culture leads us to believe that someone should fill a piece of ourselves that is missing. As I’ve grown into an adult, I realize that I am a complete person and I enjoy myself. When I look for a partner, I do not look for a missing piece, but someone who can be alone and we make sense at a different level. When I form friendships, it’s with strong people who know who they are. I rarely identify with individuals who need another person.

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