Being in an unhealthy relationship in which you aren't appreciated or respected, and which doesn't support you in the highest way is never going to bring you joy or happiness. And no relationship is ever worth giving up a piece of who you are.

It is far better to be alone, and to spend that time working on loving and embracing being alone so that you are never tempted to be in an unhealthy relationship just to avoid being on your own.

I'll put it this way: I SO love my freedom and living by myself and being able to do exactly as I please all the time. I am never bored. I am hard pressed to give up some of my time for anyone because I thoroughly enjoy the things I'm doing - even if it's hanging out on my comfy couch and watching Netflix. I don't have to put up with anything I don't like from or about anyone.

I eat when I want, what I want. I sleep when it suits me. Every moment of my life is my own - after decades of giving and being and doing for others.

These last several years on my own after my last marriage and having a relationship with myself for the first time ever have been so good for me.

The point I wanted to make is that because I feel this way about my life and I love it so much as it is with all this freedom, it would take somebody incredibly, amazingly special to make me want to give it up.

I will never give up who I am again in order to be with a man. If only I'd known how much fun it is to be alone and all the things there were about my life that I could love and enjoy and appreciate by myself decades ago, I could have saved myself and others a lot of heartache by relentlessly pursuing "happily ever after."