In this 21st century, where almost every individual is in romantic relationship, if one person isn’t, he/she is bombarded with questions like, ‘’you’re so beautiful and confident as a person, you must be having a boyfriend/ girlfriend?’’ Well, thanking the compliment, but who makes these rules that a pretty and confident girl/ handsome and smart boy has to have a romantic companion? Dating in today’s era has become so common, and kind of loosing it’s meaning, it has become like breathing. Why do we feel such intense need to be in a relationship?
  1. Peer pressure
  2. Movies/ love stories
  3. In search of one, where there are many
  4. Not loving oneself enough
  5. Being accepted in friends circle
By falling prey to all such distractions, what are we actually doing is,
  1. Completely ignoring the other sources of love we have in life like, parents, friends etc.
  2. Not being able to live in this moment but constantly worrying about that one person in the future.
  3. You assume that, when a new person will come, he/she will give you utmost happiness and satisfaction. Can you guarantee that? If people near you cant give you happiness now, how will a stranger coming in future can provide you with that?
  4. When you constantly focus on that person in future may or may not come, you tend to give less importance to the people around you who are actually the sources of love. In this process you might lose them.
Love yourself first
  1. Knowing yourself: Be aware about sense of self, morals, value systems, beliefs.
  2. Accepting yourself: Be proud of who you are, and the product you’ve become of different learnings and environment.
  3. Appreciating yourself: Give self-compliments, acknowledge your own strengths and use them for your betterment.
  4. Exploring yourself: Get out of the routine life, try thinking out of the box, give yourself new choices and options. You might get to know new things about self you were unaware of for so many years.
Life doesn’t work on planning and it never seizes to surprise you. Start walking on this adventurous path, let it be solo or with companion, it’ll turn out to be amazing if you keep your head high and love yourself first!
Rasika Karkare

I am a certified therapist and have an experience of working with various psychological vulnerabilities for more than 4.5 years. I have been working with adults in the age range 18-40 years who present a wide range of emotional/mental health concerns. In my practice, I strictly adhere to therapies based on scientific evidence and value ethical guidelines provided by APA (American Psychological Association).