The Advantage of Living Alone........

To live alone successfully, for there is an art to this, one must like.......no.....love..the person you live with.  For those of you not really paying attention, that means you......yourself.  There has to be a significant level of understanding, acceptance, tolerance, consideration and love of self.  You need to have a certain level of intelligence, as well, because entertaining yourself can be a complex enterprise.  It also helps to not have serious psych issues....no history of psychosis or major clinical depression (and I do not mean the blues, which everybody gets occasionally).

Living alone is a bit more expensive, so you need to handle money well and be able to live within the discipline of a budget.  Maintaining your environment appropriately does require a bit of the obssessive compulsive trait (not the disease) to guarantee the kind of order that results in domestic peace and happiness.  Believe me, the minimal effort required to maintain order and cleanliness is a whole lot more pleansant than the moving of mountains if you have allowed your domicile to descend into chaos.  The fact that everything is done YOUR way (since you are doing it) adds no small crown of bliss to your domestic heaven.

The other REALLY serious advantage is the fact that you do not have to be considerate of anyone else.  No one will care if you are up all night or out all night.  They won't care if you leave your underwear and socks on the floor beside your bed.  Neither will anyone pick them up from the floor, wash them and put them away so you can wear them again....clean....this time.  You can buy whatever your heart desires at the grocery, even junk food and that strange agave sweetner you like, without worrying someone will eat it or swipe it.  Then, again. no one is going to prepare a hot meal for you, make you soup when you are sick, run to the drugstore, do the laundry and grocery-shopping, clean the toilet, vacuum the floor, wash the dishes and make sure you don't run out of your favorite coffee, milk and splenda.  No one will be there when you start vomiting or spiking a fever as well.

Not having to consider someone else's feelings......Wow! that is a major convenience.  You don't have to listen to them tell you how special you are...how talented.  They don't have to listen to your dreams or complaints, commiserate with your disappointments and celebrate your victories.  No one will be there to offer moral support when life gets difficult or give advice when a problem is too complex.  You don't have to run interference for anybody, but there is no one there to do it for you either.  You absolutely never have to compromise.  When the world or someone in it has tried to beat you into the ground, you need not worry about having to accommodate someone else who might have been a staunch ally to watch your back.  You won't have to listen to someone else's confidences, but they won't be there to listen to yours. 

Yessir, there are definite advantages to living alone.  The question is:  do they outweigh the disadvantages?