15 Awesome Perks and Benefits to Living Alone
Most of my life, I have been living with someone. Of course, it started with my parents and sisters. Those were the days with more rules than freedom, and blood was often shed, and fistfuls of hair torn from their roots when I'd find my sister wearing my new jean jacket she swore up and down she never took. Then I moved out and got roommates, and that too came with a whole set of compromises, general lack of personal space and questionable hygiene standards, i.e.) A clogged shower drain with hair clearly a different colour than my own. Then I got married…and had kids…and well, not only was I never alone, I was completely surrounded.
For the last couple of years, I have been blissfully living on my own. My kids are launched, no live-in boyfriend leaving the toilet seat up, their used teabag in the sink or gifting me with the untimely discovery of an empty toilet roll, and I have to say it is unparalleled rapture.
Sure there are a few downsides. For instance, those tight jars take a little longer to open, I have to drag a chair to reach that top shelf, or there is no one to squish that Buick-size spider in the bathtub. But for me, that pretty much covers it.
Some people say that living alone can be lonely, but if I am honest, which I am to a fault, I have never been lonely in my solitude. My loneliest times have always been with someone sitting next to me.
And here is another burst of insight, a woman who is okay with being alone is a powerful woman.
So saying that, here are…
15 Awesome Perks and Benefits to Living Alone
You live by your own rules.
You can get up when you need to, not when someone else needs to.
You don't have to clean up after anyone else but yourself. No one else's dirty dishes in the sink, skid marks in the toilet, or dirty socks lying beside (not in) the laundry hamper.
You can sleep like a starfish. Go ahead, spread out and take full advantage of that big bed.
You can watch what you want on television. No fighting over the remote control, and for me, that means no football, Tour de France, golf tournaments of any kind, Formula One, or an endless loop of CNN that makes me want to break my own neck.
You can listen to your own choice of music at your own volume.
You can let your clothes pile up on the chair or even leave them indefinitely in the dryer.
No one else’s alarm will be waking you up.
You find everything exactly where you left it.
You can aggressively fart where and when you want to, not that I do that, but if I did, there would be an unmistakable waft of rose-scented potpourri.
You can decorate as you like, and no need to incorporate anyone's La-Z-Boy recliner, wagon-wheel coffee table or sport's memorabilia "artwork” into your perfectly art directed living space.
No arguing over the thermostat setting
You do not have to check if you can bring friends over.
No one wakes you up in the middle of the night because they forgot their key.
You can binge-watch Netflix in bed until 2:00 in the morning.
So enjoy the optional silence, my single dwellers. Relish in the complete freedom and privacy of your clothing-optional lifestyle. Eat popcorn for dinner without judgement from others, and proudly enjoy the leftovers the following morning for breakfast.
Get naked, and dance like no one is watching…because no one is watching.
Oh…and two more perks. You can eat the tasty centre out of the watermelon and no one will yell at you…
…and all that wine you got chilling, is for you.
