Can single people be happy?

First of all let me say a big Y-E-S!!!  You may wonder why I decided to write about this - it's because I have been asked that question a couple of times lately so, I decided to share my thoughts on the subject - well, and because I mentioned whether or not marriage was for me in a previous post and I told you all I would talk about that some day. 

One day at work the topic of marriage came up and how long people had been married and each one was saying "I have been married ____ years and I am happy!"  I joined in and said "I am not married and I am happy!"  One of my coworkers turned around and asked me if I was serious, if I was really happy? 

This kind of threw me off a bit and I asked her if she seriously doubted my happiness because I wasn't married - and yes, she seriously doubted the fact that I could be single and happy!

Then one of my facebook friends updated her status asking if people could actually really love being single.  And again I say YES! 

Now, trust me - I am not at all anti-marriage.  I have have always thought I would be married someday and yes, I often want to be married, BUT as often as I want to be married - I don't want to be married too.  People accuse me of saying this because I am single - not true!  If the right person would come along someday I would consider being married.  One of the reasons I don't want to be married is because I am scared.  Scared of truly opening myself up to another human being and scared of losing myself in the process.  It absolutely drives me crazy when I see someone change themselves because they are married.  I know that you have to change to a certain degree when you do get married, but not to the degree to which I have seen some people change. 

For now, at this point in my life I value my singleness and my independence.  I love the fact that I have to figure out how to do things on my own. I love that I get to make my own decisions on how I spend my time and money.  It has made me who I am, it has made me learn new things, and has made me much stronger in the process.

Being single does have it's cons too, but for me at this stage in my life the pros are outweighing the cons.

So, for those of you who have questioned - I do LOVE being single and I am very HAPPY!!  For those who have felt sorry for me because I am not married, please stop.  For those who tell me that the right one is out there for me, please stop...you don't know that and neither do I...nor do any of us know the plans that the Lord has prepared for us. 

For those of you who are happily married - CONGRATS!!  For those of who are single and loving it - CONGRATS to you as well!!

Have a great week!