Love is everywhere whether we like it or not. It’s in novels. It’s in movies. It’s on television shows. It’s in life. With Valentine’s Day around the corner, the world has resumed the annual war between hopeless romantics and the emotionally apathetic. Couples celebrate the day of love in their own unique ways while the single ladies’ minds have a battle between loving the girls’ night out and hating being alone. “#foreveralone” also becomes more present throughout everyone’s social media and daily conversations. So if we are all in college and many people find their long-term boyfriends or future husbands in college, why are so many girls feeling “forever alone” all the time?
Over the centuries, the dating culture has altered drastically. From old-fashioned courting to saving serious relationships for college to online dating and Tinder, it’s no wonder that relationships and love become an ambiguous tangled mess in many people’s lives. Dating used to involve the guy asking the girl’s family for their blessing, it has now turned into “We’re talking” and casual hookups. As this culture grows, guys especially find it harder to commit when the temptation of hundreds of flirtatious girls around them linger in their minds. The attractive males become pretentious and labeled as “players” by the numerous girls they had relations with. The pretty outgoing girls start to feel like they have to thrive off of these players’ attention and get reputations for being “sluts.” Soon, everyone gets impatient. No one wants to invest too much due to fear of being hurt or wasting time. Come on. Who has time for serious dating when you can just date around and get a taste of each flavor, right?
However, it is not only this thirsty and overly casual behavior of our generation that is creating this feeling of being forever alone. It is also partially the way we, especially girls, see ourselves. We already all have high expectations and want that knight in shining armor who can both spoil us like queens but view us as independent equals. That causes us to chase after this wonderful dream ideal guy, leading us to all the wrong people. As cheesy as it sounds, we often don’t end up in great relationships because we’re so focused on this ideal being that we neglect to actually see the people and what they have to offer. Secondly, girls start to believe that they have to be this warped image of what a girl should be to get all the hot popular guys’ attentions. They start to lose touch with who they really are and resort to disrespecting themselves in order to have the opportunity to land a guy.
What everyone forgets is that at the end of the day, no one wants to be with someone who can’t stand her own ground, be her own person, and love herself unconditionally. Until you can do that, you will not see your Mr. Right because you won’t know what is right for you, the real you. So whether you prefer the serious relationship or casual scene, just keep in mind that everything takes time. Keep searching for Mr. Right. I promise you he’s waiting for his Miss Perfect to figure out who she is.