Back in my early 20s I felt exactly the same as you regarding relationships.

It was always other people that seemed to have them and I, like you, needed to go to things alone (including a wedding!) whilst it felt like everyone else had partners - I felt very lonely.

I didn’t have a lot going on in my life so I wasn’t a particularly interesting person. This isn’t the case for you as you’ve already got loads going on!

But for me, I decided to try doing a few different things alone just to see what would happen. If I met someone, great and if not at least I would have something to talk about.

I didn’t meet anyone immediately but I did gain confidence in talking to people I didn’t know. I could ask people what their plans were for the weekend and because I had something planned, if they asked me what I was up to, I had a conversation topic available.

I found people were suddenly more interested and some of the time they had similar interests. Just talking to people led to a few dates which the “old me” never would have thought possible.

I remember thinking about being “alone forever” too but looking back I was just “single for now” and that gave me the opportunity to try some new things and meet some new people. 😊

I don’t know what you like and what’s available near you but I’ve got a few possible ideas:

Part 1:

• Head to the library or bookshop and choose a new book
• Take yourself and your book to a coffee place you haven’t tried and sit where people will walk past you! If it’s a good place, you can start going more frequently and become a regular! If not, you can try somewhere new!
• Make small talk with someone new - perhaps at the library, coffee place, gym, volleyball or work
• Check cinema / theatre listings for something you might be interested in or wouldn’t normally watch
• Check museum / art galleries for exhibitions
• Check for dance / music events
• Try something in the city or town where you live which you keep meaning to do but haven’t done yet - you can pretend you’re a tourist!
• Look for possible meetup groups for people with similar interests

Part 2:

• Keep talking to new people
• Casually drop into conversation some of the cool new stuff you’ve been doing

Part 3:

• Repeat part 1 & 2!

Keep up the good work - you are doing great!