Not everyone who doesn't want a partner feels alone at heart. Some, for example, may be tired of life as a couple and want time to themselves.
A significant number of people simply do not want to have a partner. Even though every day they are faced with love stories, marriages, standards for creating a family, questions like, 'don't you get bored alone?', they decide to answer: 'No thanks!'
Being alone is a delicious experience that we can enjoy every day. Sally, a forty-five-year-old from Austria, said: “Singleness is a state I really like and enjoy. I like living alone, spending time alone, traveling alone and doing things alone. I don't feel like I'm missing anything or anyone, but I feel happy and complete as an individual."
People who are strongly attracted to the single life but are currently in a romantic relationship often find themselves longing for their single life. Sally said: "I enjoyed relationships when I was in them, but eventually I felt the need to be alone again and I didn't want to live with anyone."
When social psychologist Wendy Morris studied stereotypes of single people, she found what she expected: people think that single people are not as happy as married people. They also think that singles become even more unhappy as they get older.
But those who feel single at heart defy these stereotypes. During their adult lives, the more singles embrace their life without a partner, the more content they feel. Singles who don't try to cut themselves off, but live the life they love and it just keeps getting better.
None of this means we are happy all the time. Nobody is. But we are happy to be single. We are grateful for our single life in the best of times, and we are grateful in the worst of times.
You can be single at heart and still be happy for people who are married. Single at Heart is about being happy with your circumstances. It has nothing to do with being anti-pairing or anti-marriage, although these attitudes are not disqualifying.
