casey3471

Is a significant other a necessary part of life?

I consider myself to be a happy person, content with life. I have never been in a long term committed relationship and am now in my early thirties. I still go on dates and have a healthy social life full of family, friends and hobbies but as I get older more of my friends get married, have children and settle down.

Personally, I have never made that connection with another person to follow a relationship to the next level of commitment beyond casual dating. People around me say I just haven't found the right "one" yet. I don't believe that statement. The women I have dated have been amazing people (with a few exceptions). I feel like it's my brain that might be hard wired different than societies current norms. My relationships usually last a few months, then fade into a more friendship based relationship that I still maintain with them to this day.

My friends often ask if I ever get lonely (live by myself in a studio apartment for almost the last decade) and the truth is sometimes I do but it is very rare and not that negative of an emotion that doesn't last long. I guess the reason I am asking this question is because of a fear in the back of my head that 20-30 years down the road I may regret the mindset of the present time me.

Thank you for your response and the links. I am very intrigued to hear Jim talk about his life since the description of the podcast sounds very similar to my current situation. I had to pause Dr. Love's video 5 minutes in to write this because that man is thoroughly engaging and entertaining and I wanted to make sure I remembered to thank you.