You may be feeling sad or deflated at the fact you haven’t had your first kiss yet or your best friend is in a relationship and you're not -- am I right? It could bring up feelings of jealousy, sadness, or even comparison—these feelings are normal. I’m here to tell you how to embrace being single as a teenager.
By: Chloe Gudgin
Being single as a teenager is tough, especially since the entertainment industry is filled with movies and tv shows showing how when you’re a teenager you will instantly fall in love with Peter Kavinsky and it go well and you’ll live happily ever after.
Well, if you are a teenager or even BEEN one, you’ll know that’s not true! Everyone is on a different wave of life; some fall in love young and others fall in love later on in life. Some have their first kiss at 14-years-old and others at 24 years old. Both of those events do not make a difference—it’s just as special at 14 as they are in your twenties.
The first thing to do to embrace your single life is: know your values. As as teen, you can instantly fall into peer pressure to do what your friends are doing because it looks cool or because you want to fit into the same crowd. But the truth is, if it makes you feel uncomfortable, don’t do it. You know your values, you know what’s right or wrong, but in those tough times you have to dig deep and truly believe them. You don’t have to get into a relationship because your friends are in one--who cares? You can stay at home studying for a test or watching your favorite show on Netflix because that’s what makes you happy. You do not have to follow the crowd.
One of the hardest things you need to do is accept yourself. When you accept yourself for who you are, nobody else can take that away from you. You have learned to love your flaws and your good bits all together without wanting anybody else to tell you that. You have done that all alone and when you commit to that path, that is yours only.
Some of our favorite celebrities choose to be single, from Emma Watson who calls herself ‘self-partnered’ to Hailee Steinfield who chooses to work on herself. Being single is empowering and not shameful.
I’m 20-years-old and never been kissed and never been in a relationship, yet I’m still normal. I’m achieving my goals, I’m still breaking down barriers as a female and completed my high school education as a single teenager and I haven’t become an ogre! Dating isn’t a skill you need to ‘tick off’ as a teenager to complete the goals society puts into your mind by Disney movies showing us we need Prince Charming. Dating is a choice and a choice that I have decided to wait on.
Also, look at Moana or Merida from the Disney movies, they are two single princesses breaking down barriers not wanting to get married to some man or let a man tell them how they should live their life, instead they choose their own path. That’s what being single is all about, is choosing your own path and your own pace.