Being single is great.
Being single is hard.
Being single is empowering.
Being single is heartbreaking.
All of these statements about being single are accurate. Being single is not easy. It has it's perks as well as it's challenges, it's highs and it's lows.
But being single does not make you broken.
Being an LDS woman in her 30's who has never been married is not very common, well unless you live in Utah and then there are literally thousands of women in the same situation. But even with those thousands of other women, it is easy to feel alone, hopeless and constantly fighting the urge to adopt a large amount of cats and calling them your "babies".
You wonder if you will ever have children. You start to imagine that monthly your eggs make a mass exodus because they know there isn't any use sticking around anyway.
You dote on your nieces and nephews because A) They are adorable, B) May be as close as you ever get to having kids, and C) might be your only hope of family taking care of you when you are old and senile and not throwing you in a home.
Maybe these are all things only I think about, but I digress.....
It is so easy for us to see someone and know minimal facts about them and jump to a very simple conclusion (I know I have!). Single, 30's, something must be wrong with them.
Now don't get me wrong, there are a lot of strange people out there. There are some people that I have met and within 5 minutes I can say "Oh yea, that's totally why you're single". But in a land of probably 10,000 mid-singles, these strange ones are few and far between.
The vast majority of women (and men) are attractive, strong in the gospel, hard working and all around amazing people. They are not broken, or damaged because they aren't married.
You have to remember that Heavenly Father has different timelines for everyone.
I have met so many women, incredible women, who truly think they must be broken.
Please, I beg you, stop thinking this way!
Some of us are meant to marry later in life. Some of us aren't meant to marry at all.
Have faith in Heavenly Father's plan, including his timing.
And if you ever think you are broken because you are single, just remember Sherri Dew. She is 62 and has never been married. And I dare someone to call her broken ;)
