It seems like single people can’t catch a break. All year long, but especially around Valentine’s Day, single people (mostly females) are portrayed as lonely and sad, moping around their house in a robe clutching a tissue, longing for the day that their soulmate flies into their life and makes it ten times better. It’s become such an epidemic that single people even have their own holiday: Singles Awareness Day (which ironically spells out the acronym S.A.D.)

This image of the lonely single girl persists in movies too. How many movies involve a girl crying around because she’s been single for “too long” or feeling sorry for herself because she’s alone on Valentine’s Day?

It seems that the world, or maybe just those in relationships, see single people as sad because they lack their “other half.” As a single female, I am used to telling people all the time that I am not, in fact, in a relationship, since for some reason it’s a question people always ask. I, and other singles, always get similar responses that are honestly just dumb. My favorite two are:

“Aw, I’m sorry!”

The words and the tone they say it in are more appropriate in response to “I failed my math test,” “I didn’t sleep well last night,” or “They forgot to take the tomato off my burger.”

“Oh, why not?”

What do you mean, “why not?” I’m single because I haven’t found a guy I want to spend my time with yet. The answer is that simple.

In reality, the assumption that you can only be truly happy when you’re in a relationship is completely false. There are so many other things that can bring you joy, like a serving of your favorite dessert, time spent with family, a song that speaks to you, or heartfelt moments with friends – just a few of the millions of things besides an S.O. that can make you happy to be alive.

It makes me sad when single people feel sorry for themselves for being single. Not being in a relationship is nothing to feel sorry for. It’s actually one of the best times for you to figure out who you are, what you want, and where you’re going in life. You get to focus 100% on you, and that’s pretty cool. People will always come and go out of your life, but you are always going to be stuck with you, so you best get to know and love yourself.

Though I celebrate the single woman, I don’t want to be single forever: I am so excited to meet my future husband, make a home with him, and have someone to do life with. However, I refuse to “lie in wait” or mope around while I wait for him. There’s plenty of life to live before then.