The good and bad of living alone

Living alone is fun. Mostly. Sometimes. Is it?

Growing up in a small city, as a child, the idea of living alone was something I looked up to. It was something I always wanted to do. To be on my own, fend for myself, live for myself- no questions and no explanations.

Now, that “dream” didn’t come true until I moved abroad for college. Was I excited? YOU BET. Was it what I had expected? Maybe not. Here is the good and bad (respectively) of living alone, presented to you, by yours truly;

Call me a compulsive independent person if you want, (I would agree with you) but there is nothing more fun about living alone than the sheer amount of independence that comes with it. The ability to do whatever you want and whenever you want to, has something so addictive about it that I cannot seem to get enough of it. It can go both ways, definitely, but that’s what brings me to my next point.

2. THE “ADULTING”

That is a little vague I know. Allow me to explain myself. Living all by yourself forces you to be an adult, to a certain extent of course because guess who has to deal with hydro bills? groceries? changing the light bulb? getting a new lamp? taking out the trash? cook? It is ALL on you. It is overwhelming indeed at first but after a while successfully completing all these chores, brings in a sense of gratification that is unique and so uncanny that it is almost inexplicable.

But of course, it’s not all roses and no thorns, right? Let’s talk about them, shall we?

No sugarcoating on this one, if you are accustomed to living with family or even a roommate for that matter, it can feel very isolated and that can leave you feeling sad. Especially when you just move out, the place feels alien and it feels like you have made the worst decision of your life. But, it only gets better. In my experience, the only way I could deal with it was to not think about it and just give myself and the place time. Maybe there are other ways too, this one just helped me.

2. FALLING SICK

This is definitely the hardest part of living by yourself. It’s hard to feed yourself when your body simply has no energy. Even harder to let your family know you are okay or else they’ll worry too much. In my opinion, falling sick when you’re alone is more of a testament to your mental strength than your physical one. It does make you value the little things more and you become extremely conscious of taking good care of yourself because you’d do everything to avoid being in that situation again. I definitely do. (Read that again, mom!)

One of my biggest learnings of all, however, was the importance of being patient and resilient as you adapt to the place. It is wrong to expect that you will feel at ease the day you move out. It is the truth we never talk/hear about. It WILL take time and you must give it the time it needs and before you know it, you will start relishing every bit of your tranquil space and your own company. When that time does come, make sure you appreciate yourself for getting through the rough time like the champion that you are and take note of how far you’ve come. It’s not easy but it is worth it.

If you are moving out soon, remember, you can do this and you are going to love it.

It only gets better.

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