How To Survive All Your Friends' Weddings When You're Single (And Feeling Kind Of Lonely)
The single life sure hits hard sometimes.
Christopher Campbell on Unsplash Ah summer. Tis the season of beach trips, sunny cocktails and of course, weddings. They’re happy days filled with ceremony, food and dancing and it’ll be remember as one of the best days in the new married couple’s life. And you as the spectator get to witness it all, taking in every joyous moment. It’s a wonderful scene.
That is, unless you’re single. You may be happy for the bride and groom, but in no way are you really enjoying the whole thing. Why? Because everywhere you look all you see are other couples or wedding dates. You seem to be the only one within a mile that’s all by themselves. Alone.
The entire day becomes a constant reminder of just how single you are and by the end of it you want nothing more than to sit on the couch and binge watch your sorrows away. The single life can be a rough one and you’ve had your eyes reopened to it.
So after that wedding, how do you bounce back? Go to the bar and hit on someone? Get back on Tinder? Accept the date that your mom has been telling you to go on for five years? Those are all possible solutions, but there’s also the chance getting into a relationship isn’t exactly what you want. Then again, you are feeling pretty lonely...
The post-wedding blues for the single person can be pretty blah, but there are ways to combat it. Here are my top three methods for surviving wedding season when you're single and feeling alone.
1. First, remember that it’s completely okay to be single.
This is often times the most important thing that we need to tell ourselves in a situation like this. You don’t have to be in a relationship and thinking that you do will just get you stuck with someone who doesn’t even really care about you. It’s better to be on your own than in a situation like that.
There are also a lot of advantages to being single. You don’t have to constantly ask another person if they want to do something, you can just go do it. You can also eat whatever you want without consideration. If you want to take that trip, do it. Want to go to a festival? Do that too. Take pride in your singleness because while you have it you have the ultimate freedom.
2. Realize that it might be time to be courageous and work to find someone new.
If the wedding really rubbed your single lifestyle the wrong way and you suddenly find yourself really wanting a special someone of your own, this could be a great opportunity. Assuming you’re not a total loner, there’s bound to be someone around you that you like right? Now is the time to work up that courage and ask them out!
And even if you don’t have someone like that, there are plenty of other things you can do. Try out speed dating for instance. Or, if that’s not for you, just try putting yourself out there, whether that be in person or online. You never know where love could be waiting.
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3. But if you need to, distract yourself and find happiness by throwing yourself into your passions.
Like I said earlier, it’s okay to be single. With all that free time you have not being spent on relationships, maybe you can put it toward finding something you love or reigniting an old hobby of yours. It doesn’t matter if it was that one time that you thought you found your calling in guitar or if you want to try something new like scuba diving. Find that thing that you enjoy and will make you completely forget you’re single (until the next wedding, that is).
RELATED: Why It’s Ok To Be Single Even When Your Friends Aren’t
Jesse Oakley is a writer who writes about love, relationships and self-care.