expectations and you Shoud Be's

tonight I am sitting out on my back deck with a fire going and I am thinking about recent comments I have heard from family and some of my co-workers. These comments all centre around the fact that I am a 30 something female and still single. Everybody who has said something thinks there is something wrong with this and in turn, there is something wrong with me.

Now the fact that I am still single is partially due to the way destiny has planned my life and partially due to my choice. I just have not met someone I can imagine spending the rest of my life with. It does not bother me to be single, and it does not bother me to do things by myself or for myself. I am self sufficient and independent, I don't have to have somebody around to make my life complete.

The thing that does bother me though is that fact that society has expectations that when you get to a certian age you are expected to settle down and have a family. I guess I have reached that magic age because the comments are beoming more and more frequent. I keep hearing the you "should be looking for someone, you only have a few years to have babies" or the "when do you think you will settle down, a family would be good for you" or "should I save the bassinet and other baby stuff or should I just get rid of it". Honestly I am tired of this garbage. I have no answers for the above, I don't when or if I will settle down and I really do not think I will have children at any time in my life. I have nieces and nephews and that is good enough for me.

Now, why the comments and why the expectations? Survival of the species? I think not!! (yes that is an argument I have heard before). Jealousy, possible but nobody will admit to it. Not understanding my ability to be alone. I think that is the root of all of it. Most people I know are not able to spend time alone, silence scares them. Travelling alone scares them, eating in a restaurant alone scares them, going to a movie alone scares them. The thing that scares me the most is not doing this stuff alone but rather becoming so dependent on somebody else that I am no longer able to do these things alone.

Yes, it is true that my lifestyle has not changed all that much since I was 18. I live in a nicer place and I don't buy my furniture from a second hand store anymore and I drive a car that is not falling apart. Other than that, things are not that much different. If I want to pick up and go away for a weekend, I go. I have only myself to answer to and it has been that way for 17 years.
This does not bother me.

None of this bothers me, I am happy being alone and I'm sure I would be happy in a relationship should I ever be in one. Stop the stupid comments and just accept me for who I am and don't try to change me!!!