6 Reasons To Stay Single In Your Early 20s

1. Most of us barely know ourselves at this point in our lives. We don’t know what we want, where we’re going, or how to make ourselves happy 100% of the time. Some of us won’t stay in the same cities for very long when our career goals are constantly in flux. It is oftentimes disastrous, then, when we attempt to be responsible for someone else’s feelings, desires, and hopes. We haven’t taken the training wheels off our own lives yet! (For example, how am I supposed to love someone else fully when I don’t even know what my favorite burrito toppings are? I need to know myself before I try to know someone else)

2. Whether we are still in school or working a job, time is a precious commodity that we often have to split between our friends and our significant others. Most lovers come and go, but friends are forever. Staying single means we can hang out more often with the people who will always matter to us. These are the people who will stick around if we ever break up with the person we thought was the #one. These are the people who will buy us ice cream, watch Anna Karenina with us, and hold our hands when we discover via social media that our ex has started dating someone who may or may not look like a horse on tranquilizers. Our friends are our true soulmates.

3. I don’t know about most people, but I fall in love about every five minutes. This morning, I fell in love with the barista who gave me a free croissant with my coffee (I fall in love with anyone who offers me free food). This afternoon, I fell in love with the guy who wore a tank with Ben Bernanke’s face on it to the gym. Tomorrow, I will probably fall in love with twenty more people — some of whom I will never see again, some of whom I will and should see again. The point is that people are beautiful and exciting, and the world is rife with options. There is plenty of time to settle down later in life, but we should seize the moment (carpe that diem) to explore as much of the romantic landscape as we can. Besides, we’re never going to be this young and gorgeous again (at least, naturally) so why not make the most of it?

4. Relationships hold us accountable — which can be positive but can also be a little less rainbows-and-puppies than we’d prefer. Sometimes, all we want is to spend a Friday night out with the girls — flirting with the tattooed waiter at our neighborhood haunt and hopping into bed with a box of cheesy bread and a liter of Gatorade when the sun starts to rise…this becomes much more difficult when we have to answer to a boo-thing who is going to complain about the pungent cheese smell on our pillows the next time they come over.

5. Cuddling with humans is fun, but doing it regularly gets exhausting. Cuddling with body pillows or pets (I highly recommend cats) will ensure that no one else’s snoring keeps us up all night or that we won’t wake up with odd muscle cramps. If we’re in dire need of a body-to-body snuggle session, we can just call up one of our willing friends instead!

6. Valentine’s Day is approaching with full force. Traditionally, this is a highly important holiday for couples who are interested in showcasing their #love to the world with Facebook statuses and carefully framed Instagram shots. Those of us who are gloriously single have it much easier. We don’t have to worry about finding suitable presents for our nonexistent significant others or making sure that our social media circles know we are in happily committed relationships. Instead, we can stock up on boxes of candy for ourselves! A dear friend and I plan on getting together, eating chocolate until we feel sick, and marathon-watching episodes of Seinfeld on this special occasion. I wouldn’t have it any other way.