Being single isn’t a failure—it’s an opportunity to rediscover who I am and what truly makes me happy. It took me a while to see it that way. At first, I felt like I had fallen short somehow, as if being single meant I wasn’t enough or that I’d missed the mark on something everyone else seemed to figure out. The world doesn’t make it easy for you to believe otherwise. People ask, Why aren’t you with someone? or Don’t you get lonely? as if a relationship is the only measure of a full life.

But I’ve come to realize that being single isn’t about what’s missing—it’s about what I’ve gained. When I stopped looking for validation from someone else, I started to hear my own voice more clearly. It wasn’t an easy process. At first, the silence felt deafening. I’d grown so used to making decisions with someone else in mind that I didn’t even know what I wanted anymore.

Little by little, I started exploring. I went back to things I used to love but had set aside—long walks in nature, late nights with a good book, experimenting with art and hobbies just for fun. I started saying yes to opportunities that excited me and no to things that didn’t serve me.

Being single gave me the chance to reconnect with myself, to ask the questions I’d been avoiding: What makes me happy? What do I want my life to look like? It was in those answers that I found my joy again.

This time in my life is more than a pause—it’s a gift. It’s a chance to grow, to heal, to embrace the person I’m becoming. Being single isn’t a failure; it’s the freedom to write my story on my own terms, one beautiful, fulfilling chapter at a time.