lifewithomg

I LOVE HALLMARK MOVIES. The fact that I can predict what will happen at the end and sometimes even the next lines that the characters will say warms my heart. I’m the type of person that doesn’t walk to their destination, I skip. I don’t tell you stories, I reenact them. That being said, I expected my life to be exactly like a Hallmark movie (or at least a musical). Remember our good friend Singing & Dancing from That Time I Was Rejected? Well she’s back and my oh my does she have some stories to share!

It all started when Singing & Dancing (S&D) realized that she wasn’t going to find a date to prom her senior year. (It’s probably because she was too picky and no one asked her.) No worries! She had read a statistic online that said it was a one in a million chance that you would actually marry your high school sweetheart and if she wasn’t going to marry them, why even bother? She would just have to wait until college. It might have been “just prom” to most, but this dance was a statement, and you couldn’t go with just anyone. Plus, it didn’t help that her friends encouraged her by saying she would get married first out of the group. She couldn’t disappoint.

Freshman year at her university rolls around and S&D has officially started the hunt. Every time a guy would open the door, she would say thank you, but her imagination would take over as she started to wonder how he would propose to her, what their children’s names would be, and where they would retire. “Any day now I should be meeting The One,” she thought as she walked to and from the dorms. She imagined they would get ice cream together, or go to the cheesy barn dances the school tried to host. Despair filled her heart as summer rolled around and she hadn’t been on a single date. “Is something wrong with me? Am I over qualified?” (She was not over qualified.)

You know that feeling when you’re looking like a snack, but only mosquitoes like you? That’s how Singing & Dancing felt.

She went home during holiday breaks to questions like, “Where’s your man? I heard your brother got married, are you next? What are you studying? What do you want to do with your degree? You ain’t boo’d up yet?” She continued to wait for the ice cream date that never happened. The next year comes by and leaves. Pretty soon she starts to recognize a familiar pattern. One day she looked in the mirror, only to find a crying woman staring back. No one was coming to sweep S&D off her feet. 

Ridiculous, isn’t it? Putting your life on hold in order to fill something that you thought was the desire of your heart, only to be let down time and time again. One of the many reasons I wasn’t pursuing my dreams was because I thought I needed a partner to do it. Pretty dumb, I know that now. I flooded my mind with pictures of perfect couples and fictional characters that swept you off your feet, waiting for someone that never came. Time that I could’ve spent bettering myself, mastering my own talents, and discovering my identity was instead spent crying and being over emotional about a life I thought I deserved to have.

Read these next words with open ears and a heart willing to listen: you don’t need anyone else to make you happy. You are loved by the One that longs to keep a smile on your face. The best relationship one can ever have is with our Heavenly Father. Want to rant about that annoying co-worker that can’t take a hint? He’s a great listener. Need some wisdom for a life changing decision? He can give you peace for any situation. Maybe you just had a really great day and want to share that with someone? He’s still there. He’s always there.

Over the years, society has distorted what it means to truly be single and in return, we feel like we’ll “never be enough” or “not worthy to be loved”. You are enough! You are loved! The definition for singleness isn’t to be lonely until you meet Bae. Let’s be real, just because your best friend is the epitome of #relationshipgoals, doesn’t mean their life is better than yours. Don’t envy them just because they can share a milkshake at the local diner (don’t even get me started on the bacteria that is produced from that “romantic” moment).

We all have seasons in our lives and there is a time for everything. It’s important to realize that your season might be different from Joe, just as mine is different from my neighbor, Sharon. The dating life is similar to this Midwest weather. You can wear a winter coat and snow boots all day, but that won’t change the fact that it’s 105 degrees outside. Just as such, you can try your hardest to force a relationship with someone, but if it’s not the right season, you’ll just end up frustrated and disappointed.

Singleness is not an infectious disease and you are not defined by who you are or are not dating. Embrace who you are. Embrace who God says you are. Maximize the time that you do have to yourself before the time comes when you do meet Mr./Mrs. Right. Stop sulking, go out, and live your best life. After all, we only get one.

Single & Waiting to Mingle,

OMG

ANOTHER DISCLAIMER: A friendly reminder people. Just because Singing & Dancing shares some of my experiences, doesn’t mean that’s who I am. For example, I do say thank you when a gentleman opens the door. I don’t however, name our future kids. I’m not THAT weird.