Bing Single

I've been thinking a lot about what it means to be single lately. The older I get, the more assumptions come along with being single, especially from older generations. The one that bothers me the most is that I must have more time because I'm single. We all have the same 24 hours in a day. Yes, how we live in those 24 hours may look differently if we have a family vs. being single. However, what many people do not consider is that the same basic activities of the day - cooking, cleaning, paying bills, doing the grocery shopping, running errands - need to be done regardless of your marital status. And when you are single you have to do them all yourself. There isn't another person to share these tasks with, so you do them in addition to working a job and everything else you do.

Some older folks seem to have forgotten what it was like to be single, mostly, because they haven't been so since college or even before that. What seems to have gotten lost is that being single while a student and being single in the "real world" are two completely different things. Yet, people fondly remember what it was like to be care-free during college, and think that is what its like to be single.

We all have a lot to learn from one another. Single or married. Those with kids and those without. But all too ofter our assumptions block us from learning. Sadly. May we approach each other with open hearts and open minds.