It's more preferable to be alone than to have to go through all of this.

Nobody wants to find themselves alone. Everyone is familiar with the increasing terror and dread that comes with the prospect of growing old and dying alone. This concern about the future is bad enough on its own, but it's exacerbated by the sense we get in the present when we're alone and no one seems to notice or care that we exist.

It's at times like these, when we're lying awake in our beds alone at night, when we're at our most emotionally vulnerable; it's at times like these that we start to think that maybe it wouldn't be so bad to message that ex, or to try online dating again, or to settle for that person we know deep down isn't right for us.

We all yearn for love - real, sincere, profound love, not just any love. Love that is vibrant, strong, and unconditional - the kind of love that most of us only see in movies and can only imagine. We all want to know the kind of love that will enable us to manage with even the most trying circumstances, the kind that will motivate us to keep going even when we're fatigued and on the verge of giving up. We all want to discover someone who will love us with all of their heart, who will accept us as we are and cherish us in our entirety.

We want everything. We want it more than anything else we've ever desired. And there's nothing wrong with that at all.

The problem is that our desire for this sensation can impair our judgment. It can make us rash and hasty, prompting us to rush into situations we might not have gotten into if we had taken the time to think things through a little more carefully.

Our need to find love and avoid being alone all too often takes us down the path of falling into a relationship with someone who isn't the appropriate fit for us. Being in a relationship just for the sake of being in one will never make us happy; it will only make us miserable. True happiness comes from the inside out, not the outside in. We can't expect others to make us feel any better than we do on the inside. No one can ever fill the hole that exists within us; we must learn to fill it ourselves.

At first glance, staying with someone who isn't quite suitable for us to avoid being alone may appear to be a reasonable choice, but this isn't the case. In the long run, we only feel more lonely, bewildered, and desperate to find the love we so desperately desire. It's far preferable to be alone than to accept second-best.

Each of us knows this deep down in our hearts. We know it when we feel a sharp pang of grief and regret when we gaze at the person we're with. We can tell when they appear distant and indifferent, as if they are more concerned with themselves than with the connection. We recognize it when they appear aloof and uninterested, as if they are more concerned with themselves than with the connection. We can tell when they don't respond to our energy or make us laugh, or when they dismiss our idiosyncrasies and peculiarities as annoying or strange rather than accepting us for who we are and appreciating our true beauty. We recognize it when we wake up in the middle of the night, with a warm body next to us yet feeling absolutely alone.

It's more preferable to be alone than to have to go through all of this. It's only when we've become comfortable in our own company, when we've learned to fully embrace ourselves, that everything comes together and we find the person we've been waiting for all along. Then we chuckle because we know that hoping for happiness and fulfillment in the form of another person was akin to yearning for the pot of gold at the end of a rainbow. We realize that we have it all along and that we didn't need anyone else to help us acquire it.