I'm a single woman in my thirties and I'm sitting at home on a Sunday. It's fairly nice outside. There are probably things I could be doing, like going to a park.
The problem is, sometimes it gets old hanging out with yourself.
I'm not upset that I'm single. I actually like spending time alone sometimes. And if social media didn't exist, I'd probably do something other than troll your Facebook feed of family photos.
So I'm writing this post to ask that if you have a family, you take a moment to recognize that they are a blessing. The moments you are having with your husband and your kids should be treasured, even the moments where things aren't working out the way you had hoped. Even the moments when everything goes wrong.
I also believe that it can be a blessing to be single. I can choose how I would like to spend my time. I can choose to be alone or I could call a friend and go do something.
So please do not misunderstand me by thinking that I feel sorry for myself or that I wish I were you. I just want to point out that I notice what you have and I am not sure you notice it. You have the ability to roll out of bed and have someone in your life by default. You have the ability to decide you'd like to do something with your day and you have a group of people you can suggest that idea to who will probably do it. You don't have to fear calling friend after friend who is already busy doing something else. Then sitting at home alone wishing you'd never called.
So while I can go out on a weekend night and stay out as late as I would like with hardly any consequence, you own the Sunday afternoon. I sit here in my urban apartment literally bored because I'm procrastinating washing my dishes. I'm procrastinating washing my dishes because I can, no one else would notice they aren't washed.
Neither of our lives are better than the other. Neither of our lives have an advantage over the other. Both are necessary. I just want to remind you that there are people in the world who, at times, would like to be frolicking through the park holding hands with a child rather than looking at your photo of it on Facebook while eating corn chips and drinking soda.