Single Life: Why Are We So Scared To Be Alone? (POLL)

If you've ever flipped through a celebrity gossip rag, chances are you know that Jennifer Aniston is going to die alone. That's right, the talented, wildly successful, "hottest woman of all time" is doomed to a lifetime of loneliness. Why? Because, as a woman over 40, Aniston is expected to have settled down long ago -- even if settling down also meant just plain settling.

Unfortunately, the pressure to find someone "before it's too late" is just as intense in the real world as it is on the pages of the celebrity weeklies. As Demetria L. Lucas asked recently on XO Jane: "How many women, young women especially, who constantly hear how inadequate it is to be single... make a choice to proceed in an unfulfilling relationship not because they genuinely want to be there but out of fear of becoming their worst fear... the single girl when everyone is committed...?"

What do you think? Why are we so afraid of being single? And should we be so afraid of ending up alone? Fill out our poll and tell us your story in the comments.