Enjoy your space and your schedule. You are the ruler of your own domain. You have complete control over your alarm clock, your bed and your bathroom. Let your snooze alarm run for two hours with no fear of being yelled at. Enjoy sleeping without being kicked or having the covers stolen. Stay up late and sleep in—not every day, but enjoy living like a rock star when you can.
Do what you want, when you want, without explanation. Spend the weekend watching an entire series on DVD without leaving the house. Cancel your plans and don’t answer your phone. The rest of the world can wait. Eat popcorn and jelly beans for dinner. Just because you can.
Be thankful that you are doing laundry for one and not laundry for three or four. Don’t feel condemned for not making your bed for days on end, and don’t worry about the water puddle on the bathroom floor, because no one will ever know you left it.
Enjoy solitude. Have a good balance of going out with friends and spending nights at home alone. Cook yourself a huge dinner or read a book cover to cover. You may covet those moments in the future.
Enjoy life. Get dressed up, even if you think you have no one to impress. If for no one else, do it for yourself. Besides, you never know who is watching you.
Go to a swanky restaurant with friends and plan to drop some major cash. Sure, you don’t have a boyfriend to pay the bill, but go ahead and spend your hard-earned money on a great meal. You’re worth it.
Travel the world. The art galleries of London and the streets of Rome await you. Don’t wait until you get married to visit that one place you’ve always wanted to see.
Drive a fun car. One day you’ll have to get a sensible vehicle to tow the whole family, but until then you can totally pull off that speed racer you’ve been test driving.
Be spontaneous. Drive across state lines for dinner, drive back that night and pay for it in the morning. Take advantage of having no strings attached; grab some friends and go do something completely wacky.
Enjoy being available. Flirt while it’s still legal. Because if you’re unattached, it certainly is. Exude the confidence of someone who is worth catching and enjoy every second. Be careful but don’t take it too seriously, and be willing to have a little fun.
If you’re still getting over the breakup, sing those bitter breakup songs at the top of your lungs while you still mean it. Once you find the love of your life, you won’t be able to sing those songs with the same cynical authority you have now.
Keep your eyes open. Shine brightly enough while you’re waiting so that the person who is looking for you will have no trouble finding you.
Enjoy waiting. Be totally in love with your future mate, even if you haven’t met them yet. Write them letters when you miss them so badly that you are doubled over on the floor from the ache. Date them, seal them and lock them away in a safe place. They will make a great wedding gift.
Keep a journal. Open a doc on your computer and let it rip. One of these days you will meet that person, and you will wish that you had kept an account. Don’t be discouraged if your journal turns into this huge book of stories about relationships that never worked out. Keep writing, because one of these days your story will end differently.
Enjoy anticipation. Instead of being bitter that your married friends already have the white picket fence and the 2.5 kids, be excited that you still have all of those things to look forward to.
Stop moping and start getting excited. Start dreaming instead of always resorting to lighting candles and crying along with Snow Patrol. Take the energy you spend on loneliness and use it to generate focused times of prayer and meditation.
Well, OK. Maybe a little crying is good every once in a while.
Enjoy your resources. This will be one of the rare seasons of your life where you can choose either the ”good groceries” or the iTunes cards. If you are willing to eat peanut butter for a week in order to have those shoes, there is no one there to stop you. You are the only one who sees your checkbook, so live wisely but have fun as well. Pay off as much debt as you can. Do it for your future family.
Help others. Find places in your city where you can get in the trenches, with or without a church group. Don’t wait for someone to organize a service outing. When you get married, your primary obligation will be serving your family. Right now you have the time and resources to help others at a higher level of involvement.
And most importantly, enjoy God. This is a rare time in your life where you will have quantity and quality time to do so. Disappear with Him for a few days. Enjoy Him for hours at a time, while you don’t have a 2-year-old pulling at your shirt for a grilled cheese sandwich.
