I cannot impress upon you how deeply important it is to be able to be alone. To be able to take yourself out on dates. To be able to be completely comfortable in a crowd to be walking or sitting by yourself. Being comfortable with your alone is the first step to loving yourself.

This is the problem with modern dating: we spend so much time trying to find the perfect partner that we forget how to be by ourselves.

We spend so much time trying to find the “one”, we forget about the one who has been there all along. We rely on our friends when we do not have a partner and find ourselves feeling dejected when our friends do not have time for us. There is already someone there who has time for us and we are simply ignoring them. That is ourselves.

Take yourself to the movies. Take yourself out to that fancy new restaurant you want to try. Go to a gallery you’ve been wanting to visit. Go see that art show. Attend that festival. Spend your time in retrospect, and reflection. Educate your mind and fill your thoughts with beautiful things. We grow the most when we are able to be comfortable within our skin, and don’t care what other people think when they see us walking around alone.

Other people are not your comfort blanket. People are unreliable and they shouldn’t hold such stature in your life that you forget how to enjoy your own company. The truth is, the more you learn to depend on yourself, the less you will encounter disappointment. Being self reliant and self assured are two important personal attributes that will help you not just live, but conquer your life.

So learn how to be comfortable in your own skin. Learn how to date yourself. Learn how to cherish moments alone. Learn how to experience life with the unique perspective that you were born with. And learn how, in these moments of alone, you become the best version of yourself.