Living alone!!! Definitely sounds scary. What does one do while being alone? How to manage a room or a house? How to manage daily life? Bills, cleaning, laundry, medicines, college, office, personal life, there are so many things that has to be solely taken care of. And, there will be occasional surprises like sickness, emergencies and unpredictable situations for which one can not be prepared in advanced. Living alone sounds, looks, and feels like a bad idea any day. It is like putting yourself in a vulnerable situation voluntarily and who wants to do that?
Home is a place where comfort lays, cushions are placed, things just happens, and nothing is scary as long as there are near and dear ones. All said and done, but the reality is that life is unpredictable and even though we would love to disagree, but living alone prepares one for the harsh realities of the world.
Seeing through this statement is not really possible for the ones who have not yet experienced living alone. So, following are the reasons that not only explain how living alone prepares one for the harsh world but also are the reasons why you should start living alone.
#1. Freedom & Power To Make Choices:
The first feeling that strikes while starting living alone is the feeling of freedom and power to make choices good or bad. Now, you are on your own, there is no curfew hours, no one to monitor what you are doing, how you are investing or wasting your time or how you are shaping up your life. It sounds fancy and something that everyone craves for; but with greater power also comes greater responsibility. The responsibility to draw your own lines, understanding of the fact that there are no good or bad choice; you make a choice and then you make them work. Sometimes you will have to think hard before making a choice and sometimes you have to take risk, but since the power is in your hands you learn to use it.
#2. Learning A Thing Or Two Each Day:
Everyday is a learning experience while living alone. There are so many things to learn to survive in the world and while living alone consciously or unconsciously one learns a new thing every single day. Be it knowing about location of the nearest hardware store to knowing all about house cleaning products; there is a new lesson everyday. You may not notice what your learned but you only realise it when you apply the knowledge later on.
#3. Know What Makes You Happy Or Sad:
Away from people, on your own; you start to identify what makes you happy and what really is annoying, irritating, or saddening for you. While surrounded by people, you mostly do things that others are doing or asked you to do; without thinking what you get out of it. When you have all the freedom to make your choices, then you do things that make you happy. Be it travelling, reading, singing or playing music, meeting new people and so on and so forth, you know what you like or rather love doing.
#4. Time For Introspection:
Living alone gives you time to introspect, understand and accept your inner self. You become aware of your own emotions and be more considerate of others’ emotions. You got to know you are introvert or extrovert; you get to access your actions, and know yourself better. Introspection is important in life to grow as a human being and alone time surely gives you space enough to do that. Confidence, self-assurance, and strength of will come only when you know your inner self.
#5. Crisis Management Without Panicking:
Let’s say you lost your keys and now stuck outside at night, or you sprained your ankle, or there is a massive overnight power cut, or something else over which you do not have much control or which makes you nervous; living alone teaches you to deal with all this without panicking. Living alone and situation like this teaches you that the first thing to do is stay calm and think for an easy solution. Though, it might take some time to learn this but eventually everyone living alone becomes pro in it.
#6. Learn To Prioritize:
So, you can make your choices; you can choose sleep over the first class in the morning or missing the Skype call with parents to attend an office party. This is how you learn to prioritize things in life. Who is important, what is important for you, and why doing everything or pleasing everyone at a time is not possible as well as not important. Living alone brings in the skill to prioritize, sticking to choices, and making them work.
#7. Learn To Value People:
Why spending time with parents is important, why meeting or talking to an old friend is necessary, why taking out time for some people is important, and why letting some people go it inevitable; you learn only when you live alone. You start overlooking the value of people whom you get to see everyday, when you are all by yourself, you realise the value of these people in your life.
#8. Tolerance:
The level of tolerance is seen to be higher in people who live alone, simply because they get to deal with situation or people irrespective of whether they like or dislike the situation or the person. You are exposed to the world and can not hide behind your parents, siblings, roommates or anyone else and choose not to deal with a situation or person. Out of this experience one learns to be more and more patient and tolerant.
#9. Experiment More:
Be it diet, lifestyle, or fashion, if you are living alone you can experiment with anything that you feel like. In fact, this is the best time to experiment with everything possible. Apart from common sense, there is no one to stop you from doing anything that you wish to. Change your diet, may be adopt a pet, learn a new skill, try some art, the wish is yours and no one is standing in between to stop.
#10. Stop Looking For Validation:
By living alone, you learn to deal with everything by yourself. You might fall or falter or sometimes crawl but at the end of the day you are facing the challenges of life all by yourself and now you definitely do not need any validation from anyone. As long as you are making through life, there is no need to be appreciated by anyone, if somebody does that it feels good but you are not dependent on it anymore.
Living by yourself in not easy, but it is an adventure that turns everyone into a warrior in some or the other sense.