I Love

Last week I held a relief society (the women’s organization in the LDS church) retreat at a cabin to the East of here in the mountains. It seemed to be a success with beautiful surroundings, lots of laughs, and more sugar than should ever be consumed in one sitting. The girls had fun…and so did I. Many of the girls I go to church with are quite a bit younger than me since technically, I am actually too old to be going to the young single adult wards anymore. Nonetheless, here I am. Most of the girls do not know my age, just that I am a little older than they…which brings me to my point. In church the day after our retreat, one of the girls that I spent a good deal of time with over the weekend, spoke about how much she loved our ward…how she was very hesitant to come to a single’s ward because of all the myths out there, but she was really grateful that our ward isn’t just students or a bunch of 30-40 year old single, lonely people. When she said that, it hit me pretty hard. I tried not to look shocked and finally was able just blow it off due to ignorance.


I’ve thought about this comment on several occasions this week and finally come to the conclusion that I am grateful for what she said. If she doesn’t think that I am old and lonely and crazy and boring, then I am a success! All that matters is that I am living life, enjoying it, and not falling into that category or those misconceptions about people my age. I think it is fantastic that she hung out with me all weekend and doesn’t know that I am over 30 or even lonely sometimes. Because I am. At the same time, I’m having fun and being me.

Today I was pondering life and it just hit me that I am actually REALLY grateful to be single right now. This has pretty much never happened to me but I could honestly say that I am grateful. I LOVE this time of year because it really causes reflection of the important things in life and how blessed we are. All of the things that I am grateful for came rushing to my mind. One of those is my singledom. I have a fantastic family and because I am single, I have more time to spend with them…especially my cute nieces and nephews. Some of those cuties are moving back to town in a couple of weeks and I cannot wait! I have so many plans…I hope they don’t get sick of me!

Many other benefits of my single status greet me each day. I can go wherever I want and do what I please whenever I want. I can live my life on my own whim and I kinda like it. I like being spontaneous. I like putting together cute packages for my friend on her mission and spending way too much money on them…not having to really answer to anyone but myself. I like being successful at my own life…all by myself. There are many benefits and I am grateful. So, instead of focusing on what I don’t have…I am going to focus on what I DO have. Then, I can make the most out of now and when the time comes for me to move on, I will eagerly do so. But for now…