The Alaskan Allure

“I think he’d make a great spouse for someone… I just dont’ know who.”

“Why do the awkward ones always have the most confidence?”

“Where do you go to meet single boys? Where are they hiding?”

These are all conversations I’ve had over the past week. I have a number of single girlfriends (we need to stick together, y’know!) and I sometimes wonder why they are single. They are beautiful, intelligent, responsible, driven, compassionate people. They are warm and hilarious and great listeners. They have degrees and credit scores higher than the average American!

And they have no one expressing interest in them. *sigh*

So what is it? Are they too independent? Are they intimidating? Do they have some flaw that I am unaware of?

Sometimes I wonder how anyone begins to date. It seems like so many factors are against you once you’re an adult. If you are stable and responsible, like my friends are, you tend to stay in the same house, job, town, and church instead of bouncing around looking for a catch. But then you’re around the same people all the time, so if there are few prospects, how do you meet other people? It’s so much easier to make new friends when you can turn to them in the lunch line and ask them to pass you a chocolate milk. How do you make new friends when you are an adult (no milk line), employed (lengthy work hours), and in your thirties (tick-tock, Bridget, tick-tock!)? All the while not wanting to make dating a game of statistics… in which case I and all my single friends should move to Alaska where the male to female ratio is the best in the States (at about 10:1 last I heard).

Alaska Aurora

 

But I have to remind myself that singleness is not a lesser manner of living. That I am able to do things I wouldn’t be able to if I were married. I can cook what I want or eat cereal for dinner. I spend my own money. I make decisions. There is beautiful freedom in such an existence. Yes, it would be nice for someone to think I’m special and worth pursuing, and maybe someday the Alaskan Allure will win out, but today I have the grace to be single and the perspective to really enjoy it. And I’m praying that for my wonderful single friends as well.

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