The key is to take advantage of these advantages.
One thing I love about being single is that there is so much you can do and learn because you only have yourself to worry about. I know everyone always says to go out and do something new, take a class, get a new hobby, etc. But it's true. If I had a husband and kids, my focus would be on them. Since I don't, I just want to learn as much as I can and enjoy my life.
Groupon is an awesome tool that you should be using. It gives you the ability to try something new at a relatively inexpensive cost. Then if you find you like it, you can keep doing it. If you don't, you haven't wasted your money and you can try something else.
The other great thing about Groupon is that it gives you an incentive to actually do this new activity. You pay the money up front. So if you chicken out and don't use it, that's money down the drain. Thus, you only have to be brave enough to click "buy" on Groupon. Having already spent the money gives you the motivation to actually use it.
A little over a year and a half ago, I bought a groupon for Chicago Dance Factory. I have always loved dancing but never really had much of an opportunity to do it. Either I didn't have a partner to dance with or all the girls wanted to dance with me leading. I cannot tell you how many times I have sat at a wedding feeling sad because a slow song is playing and no one will dance with me. So, I convinced my friend (we won't mention names, will we Carly?) to get the Groupon with me and try this group swing and salsa dance class.
Only she forgot to buy the groupon.
Needless to say, I was slightly in panic mode. What do I do now???? I already paid for it, but can I really go by MYSELF?
I decided that I would swallow my fear and just go. Plus I really wanted to dance.
Now of course things don't always go as well as we hope. When I arrived at the first class, my heart dropped to my feet. There were about three couples there and then one old guy who clearly thought that now I was his designated partner. The man had to be at least 85 and could hardly shuffle his feet. Oh no, I thought. I'm going to be stuck dancing with this old man forever! Why did I do this? I wanted to run out the door and never look back.
But I stayed. I did have to dance with the old guy, but we also switched partners. And after class, at the little dance party to practice what you had learned, he did seem to think I was now his assigned dance partner. But I also got to dance a tango with my teacher, Brian. Even though I didn't really know what I was doing, that tango was so much fun. And that's when I knew I would come back. (And it did get better).
Fast forward to today. I just got home from my first country western competition, where I competed in five different dances. I got at least a gold rating on each dance, including the waltz, which we had done about 3 times before the competition. I also frequently compete in West Coast Swing. Thanks to Groupon and Brian, I can dance about a dozen different dances, I can lead several of them, and I can follow more even if I don't know the dance very well.
The most important thing is that I have fun dancing. I've made a lot of new friends and I really enjoy social dancing as well as competing. None of this would have happened if I was married and had little kids. I simply wouldn't have the time. It also wouldn't have happened if I hadn't drummed up enough courage to go to that first class on my own. Now I have a list of things I want to learn to do, like ride a horse, fly an airplane, and maybe take some cooking classes or more cake decorating classes.
You don't have to try dancing if that's not your thing. But be brave. Try something you've always wished you knew how to do. It's hard, but it's worth it. And just imagine all the cool things you can learn along the way.