Be Single or Be Sorry

I hope that all married and committed women are not tempted to shoot me after they are done reading this article. Here goes: One report by the World Health Organization indicated that married women, especially those with children have a higher risk of depression than single women. A recent morning news report on NBC investigated the reasons why being single is so great. And suggested that many married persons or those in a committed relationship are sorry that they are in a twosome. The divorce rate is also on the rise with marriages lasting even shorter than they used to. So I guess the rule is be single or be sorry!

Now to all the couples out there, I am not trying to scare you in any way. I just want to support all of the single people and remind them why it is soooo good to be unattached.On a very entertaining Web site Askmen.com, one of their writers listed the reasons why men should enjoy their single status. Many of these apply to single women as well. They include not having to tolerate nagging or moodiness, appreciating your independence and having complete control over your finances. I have to add to that list that you can really truly be yourself and not have to adjust your personality, lifestyle or choices to please anybody. You have the complete freedom to do whatever you want with your time, if it’s watching six episodes of Sex in the City one after the other for the third time this week, or partying until four in the morning with your friends.

Another study suggested that single people are more likely to achieve great things. Now think about it, if you are constantly occupied with wifely or household duties in addition to regular work, is there any time or energy left over to come up with brilliant ideas or even work at achieving something great? Oh boy, I am really in trouble now! I am making references to studies and research done on the subject so I am not just pulling these comments out of a hat.

There are so many other benefits of being single. You really have the freedom and time to develop your interests and truly find out what you really want out of life. Being married or in a long-term committed relationship when you are too young could have many negative effects. I could never imagine being married at twenty. Six years later, I am a completely different person and my perspective on a lot of things has changed. If I had gotten married to the type of guy that I liked when I was twenty, I would be a miserable wreck right now and I would be very sorry I made that commitment. But of course it may work for some people.

But wait, there are still more benefits to being single. These include having better friendships and having a better body. A recent study by the Cornell University concluded that women generally gain five to eight pounds in the first few years of marriage and unhappily married women gain an average of 54 pounds in the first ten years. Ouch! I can see the firing squad lining up in front of me now . . .