Colorful Single Lady - Confessions of a Single Woman

Recently, I have come to terms with the fact that I am -gasp!- single. Without a man in my life. Some of you may be scratching your heads thinking, wait, haven't you been single for quite some time now? The answer is yes, I have. But for some reason, it seems as though I have become acutely aware of this fact. Perhaps it's because I have been hanging out with my seeming endless flow of non-single friends and their significant others lately (nothing but love for you guys, I promise!) or it could be the fact that it is nearing the end of summer (Can you believe it?) and I have yet to find that ever-elusive summer love. Regardless, I am single and that won't be changing anytime soon.

Right now, you're probably thinking, "You're 20 years old! How can you be complaining about being single when you're life is barely beginning!?" and you have ever right. Because I, too, am asking myself that question. These are all ideas that I have been wrestling with for the past couple of weeks. Why don't I have a boyfriend? Why do I want one? Do I really want one? Why do I care?

With all these restless thoughts running through my brain at 1000 m.p.h. to what seemed like no refuge, it seems like fate that I came across Nashville-based writer Mandy Hale who writes "The Single Woman" column. I noticed she posted a new column, which I quickly took in and loved. Wanting more I read more of Mandy's posts and found a post that hit especially close to home called, "Confessions of a Single Woman". Mandy seems like a real-life Carrie Bradshaw, who offers up words of wisdom that are music to my single lady ears.

Here are a few excerpts from her column titles "Confessions of a Single Woman":

"The life of a single woman is a whirlwind of contradictions. One minute you like a guy, the next you don’t; one day you have $2,000 in the bank, the next you’re chasing pennies around the floorboard of your car to afford a McDonald’s cheeseburger for dinner; one week you feel single and fabulous, the next you just feel lonely and mediocre. It happens to the best of us. There is no real safety net for a single woman."

"We are tough. We are bold. We are fierce. We are a force to be reckoned with. We face the world the single way every single day…and we don’t back down. We don’t let the idea of going to a movie alone intimidate us. We don’t let the threat of bumping into an ex stop us from going to the most fabulous party in town with our head held high. We walk a path that many women will never have to walk…a path that forces us to constantly step out of our comfort zones. The journey of a single woman is not an easy one – but we welcome the danger. We welcome the unknown. We embrace our freedom as the gift that it is…we pay our own way…we march to the beat of our own drum and we ask permission from no one to do so. There is a fire in the soul of a single woman that can never quite be tamed…an unwillingness to settle…an independence all our own, built from the knowledge that we can do absolutely anything without calling for backup and we can look damn good doing it. There is a wisdom we possess that comes from surviving many a broken heart…a shine to us from learning how to make an entrance into a room accompanied by no one but me, myself and I…a confidence that comes from knowing we are not afraid to fall…because each time we fall, Life presents us with another opportunity to get up and move up. We realize a happy life is more important than a happy ending…and that we don’t need a significant other to lead a significant life. And if one day, our Prince does find us, we won’t expect him to complete us, but to compliment us. Because we are strong. We are invincible. We are all…The Single Woman."

Thank you Mandy, for offering these encouraging words of advice, and for making me feel Single and Fabulous! once again.

Check out the rest of Mandy's column's here: http://tinyurl.com/yk37tlx