Christmas carols are slowly making a comeback, and as you're humming "Jingle Bells" in the comfort of your bed, you turn over to the other side for a duet, and it's empty. Damn, not even an uplifting, jolly song can rid you of your singleness. When you're single during the holidays, some things inevitably stress you the heck out.
It seems like strangers come out of the woodwork just to gallivant the streets holding hands during the holidays, and the closest thing you have to warmth are the gloves your BFF bought you last year. What the hell do you do? For anyone who is single during the holidays, stress doesn't even begin to describe the way every Christmas tree or sweater can turn from festive to downright ho-ho-horrible.
Most likely, no one deliberately plans to be single during the holidays, but it certainly ignites mini anxiety spells about the smallest things. We get it, the holidays are about gratitude and selflessness, but can't Santa just send us someone to practice all of those things with during the holidays? We promise we will be good.
Even though you'll be making an endless amount of fun plans with friends and family throughout the holiday season, you still have to deal with several annoyances. If your relationship status isn't as lit as your Christmas tree this year, you've probably already felt these few stresses plague your single situation.
The holiday season makes you want to get out and explore everything there is to experience. But no matter how jolly the festivities are around you, that penetrating third or fifth wheel anxiety always seems to settle in. How weird would it be if we just grabbed a stranger's hand? You know, for scientific purposes.
Seeing an ex back in your hometown for the holidays can be super excruciating if you're single. This is especially awkward if they've moved on and you run into them while they're with their new boo. It's moments like this one where that invisibility cloak in Harry Potter would be so incredibly helpful.
Family is so important around the holidays... that is, until the only things rushing out of their mouths are questions about your love life (like you've never been with another human being before). Why are our love lives always recorded at a pace that others want for us? Mom, I know you want the best for me, but I can't just conjure up the perfect human for me. Trust me, I've tried.
OK, this may be very cliché, but it's seriously so romantic to get a kiss at the stroke of midnight. Honestly, it feels like in that moment, time has basically stopped and you're welcoming the New Year with some extra TLC. And hey, it's good luck. There's nothing wrong with wanting to seal the deal of luck with a kiss.
Seeing other couples happy is beautiful, but geese, do we have to be bombarded with each and every single one of them at company functions? It can literally seem like everyone just paired up on purpose to remind you how single you are.
Oh, and you can't shake the fact that everyone is wondering where your date is. You tell me when you find them, thanks.
Of course, any blind date is nerve-racking, but it is extra stressful around the holidays. You don't know what to expect. Is this person as on edge as you are, or are they desperately trying to find someone to keep warm with during these colder months only? Seriously, you wouldn't even consider these things so intently if the holiday season wasn't weighing heavy on your mind.
Can we put companionship on our Christmas list? Clearly, no one can really deliver that to us as a gift, so we will have to stick to asking for things we don't necessarily need but want. We know exactly what we want for Christmas, Santa. It's just doubtful that they'll fit in your bag.
Being single during the holidays isn't the worse possible situation. Oftentimes, we receive those gifts of companionship at the most unexpected times, outside of the holiday season. Go figure.
