1. The freedom to serve others without having to work around anyone else’s plans. During the last two weeks, I’ve given rides to three different friends who either had car troubles or health issues that prohibited them from driving. I rode along with one of these friends to go car shopping on multiple occasions. In all of these instances, I didn’t have to check with a husband to see if the car was needed somewhere else or worry about the time or gas money involved (beyond my own needs).

2. The lack of drama. Okay, that’s more of a dating issue than a marriage one (I would hope), but watching some of my friends who are in dating relationships reminds me that as good as it can be to have that person who you love and love to do things with, it brings out a lot of messiness and problems and forces you to be introspective about all the things that are wrong with you. Some of that’s good, and it can help you grow. Some of it, especially as evidenced by real-life examples…just isn’t good.

3. I can make career decisions based on just one person–me. This is one that I think the trade-off of a spouse would make up for, but the freedom to choose a job that suits me well and will help me later on is a nice thing right now. Hopefully, I’m making career decisions these days that will help me build up my qualifications, so that if later on, I’m geographically or otherwise constrained by someone else’s career needs, I’ll have the skills that will still help me find a job to contribute to the family.