It’s All in the Company You Keep

Tuesday, November 17, 2009
This past weekend I was at a friend’s out of town wedding. Back last summer I was coordinating with a friend of mine who was also invited, deciding whether we might share rooms or would need our own. She was optimistic she might have a date, but I was actually thinking that bringing a guest might be less fun that going solo.

You see this wedding had all these very fun folks that I knew on my own or through the bride or groom. And I hadn’t seen a lot of those folks in awhile, some of them years. I was thinking I’d be doing a lot of catching up at the weekend events and it might be hard (read: annoying) to keep introducing a stranger. Especially if this stranger wasn’t awesome at playing with others (as so many people just aren’t, unfortunately).

Neither of us ended up bringing dates, and you know what? I didn’t even notice I was one of the very, very few singles at the wedding. And I had a really great time. It’s likely I would have had less fun with some new guy I was dating, even.

A few weeks back I was all melancholy about being left behind by my married and parental friends, and there is truth to those feelings. There’s more to it than that, though. A lot of what I love about my life right now involves the fact that I am single. I can pick up and go out of town to visit family or friends and decide to buy a season of Bears tickets on a whim and meet my pals for drinks whenever I want. I don’t have to check anyone else’s schedule or check-in when plans change on the fly…

I am a part of so many people’s lives, and will continue to be, whether I’m single or whether I’m with a partner and whether they are single or married or pregnant. Not having that partner should never take away from the incredible relationships I already do have.

Whoever he is, whenever I met him, he better bring his A game. He’ll need it to get past the fun loving and generous standards my friend’s have set.

4 comments:

Plentymorefishoutofwater said...

Nice post. It is so easy to focus on the negatives of being single but there are just as many positives. Not sure why you haven't got more followers - you need to self-publicise more. That's if you're bothered....

jo said...

there are definitely good things bout being single and you've pointed them all out. having friends to hang out with also does distract you from feeling too lonely which is a good thing.

SaneAndSingle said...

There are definitely positives to being single. Unfortunately, I tend to focus too much on the negatives. Thanks for that post!

Dater at Large said...

PMFOOW: sometimes I try to self promote, mostly I forget. but thanks for the compliment!

Jo: As long as you're with the right friends, it doesn't feel like you're being singled out. I just have to make sure to hang out with that crew regularly!

S&S: You're welcome :-)