7 Ways to Be Happy Being Alone ...

1. Do Something Decadent

One of the best ways to be happy being alone is to do something dripping with so much decadence, you don’t even remember there’s no one beside you. This can take on a different meaning for everyone in this world, and often doesn’t include a lot of money. Go get that cannoli at your favorite bakery, and bring home its twin too. Take a nap in the middle of Saturday afternoon and leave the phone in the kitchen. Go to the store you love and can never afford anything in, and try on whatever your heart desires (don’t they have a clearance rack too? But save that one for a non-decadent day…)...

2. Make a List of Your Best Traits

Feeling like there must be something wrong with you because you have some free time in your life? Instead of being woeful, be boastful, at least in the recesses of your own mind. Do you make a mean mocha coffee? Can you recite all of the words to your favorite movie? Were you the sixth-grade spelling champion? It makes no difference what fills you with pride in yourself, just remember it when the gremlins of doubt come knocking on your door. Tell them you prefer to be alone tonight.

3. Remember Things You like to do when No One else is around

Let’s be honest. There are just times you wait for no one else to be around so you can indulge in your guilty pleasure. Watching that rom-com for the 113th time? Making the peanut butter banana sandwiches your mom used to make for you when you were 13? Grooving to the newest installment of ‘Just Dance’ on the Wii? Let loose! The night’s young, and it’s all yours!

4. Rent a Weekend’s Worth of Movies Just for You

It may not be the newest installment of a high-tone British drama, but it’s what makes you smile when no one is watching. Rent the ones your friend’s don’t want to see, the ones your ex rolled his eyes at, the one that you tell people you’re renting for someone else. Then pop that corn, grab that blanket, and call it a movie date with you!

5. That Thing You’ve Always Wanted to Learn

Perhaps you’ve always marveled at how people can get on a surfboard and actually stay vertical, but the exhilaration of the thought makes you wonder. Have you always wanted to throw some clay on a wheel, sign up for a drawing class, take a flying leap (with a parachute or wind sail attached!), or write a book? Then take that that class, and revel being steeped in the attention being bestowed on YOU. You deserve it!

6. Reconnect with People

Have you ever wondered what happened to your middle school best friend? Have you pondered how your college roomie ever fared with her latest business scheme? What about the guy whose invitation you should have accepted to the prom? Feel as you will about social media, but it does allow you the opportunity to pick up on the next chapter of your life a lot easier.

7. Look at Yourself from a New Light

When is the last time you had some time for serious introspection over a huge chunk of chocolate cake (everything goes better with chocolate)? Are you alone because this is the right thing for you right now, or are you cloistering yourself away in an unhealthy way? Or at the very least, is periwinkle still your favorite color, are you still a French country girl with a contemporary twist, and does shredded coconut still gross you out? This kind if inner dialogue needs some space and quiet to contemplate. And who knows, you may come out of this internal chat with a whole new definition of you.

There are as many ways to be happy being alone as there are people in this world. But whatever your way is, it’s important to give yourself the gift of time alone on a regular basis to balance out living in this hectic world. What is your favorite way to be alone? What do you like to do?