why stay?

ok, let's talk relationship.

i've been single for ... 3 years? or more. i don't know. and while i may sometimes miss the constant fellowship and availability of a guy-friend (boyfriend sounds a little too juvenile for me now), i really do not regret choosing this.

of course i don't want to remain single forever but if i had to choose between simply picking a guy and settling into an expected relationship or being who i am, myself, but free, i'd still choose being free.

yes, mum nags. and wonders why i just won't settle. some friends or new people i meet, when they hear i'm single, would immediately give that 'look' and plot my next match. but honestly, yeah, i want to meet 'him' - the right guy, but please, please don't ask me to settle for just anyone.

friends who are in long-term relationships lament often on how unhappy they sometimes are. they always say 'i wish i'm you .... or i wish i have your kind of independance/freedom'. i wonder to myself, surely it's a matter of choice. i mean, you could be too but probably reasons such as, the expectations of society, comfort zone and fear of the unknown, hold you back and instead of liberating, love causes one to remain in a cycle or circle, of .... i don't know ... unending dissatisfaction?

again, why confine yourself to settling for something if that's not what you truly want? while the unknown might be scary and risky, isn't it better than a life of frustrations?

friends quarrel with their other halves and come telling me they wish they can break up. i always hear how it's always a cycle. yes, relationships are never perfect, people disagree but if deep within, you know that this is not 'the one'. if this is not what you want to live with for the rest of your life; if this is not what you feel you want to fight for and hold on to; why? why stay?

has society conditioned us so much that we must have a relationship to appear whole?