Doing things alone

 

   Merging into the adult world especially as a woman it is frowned upon to do things alone. You will always see girls go places in groups, this is a safe thing to do in some cases. We are programmed to never do anything alone like something as simple as going to the bathroom at a restaurant. One thing I learned from moving away from home and going to college is that a lot of my friends refuse to do things alone. For example, go to the cafeteria, go to the store, walk to class alone. The first thing I did when I moved was to explore the town alone. I would go on daily walks around town, get coffee and go to school events all by myself. I loved doing things alone, but I was not always like this. Living back home I refused to go anywhere alone. I would not even walk my dog if I had to go alone. I had realized the older I got that I really wanted to travel, I had been working since I was sixteen and I had the money to leave. I had asked all my friends and family to travel with me and all of them said they did not have the money or thought it would be unsafe to do it alone. That was when I realized if I wanted to do anything I would have to do it alone. That's what started my journey of doing things alone. A lot of people have social anxiety especially when covid started individuals were stuck inside their houses with little to no human interaction or connecting. Getting out of your comfort zone is never an easy task and can take lots of practice. There are so many books and resources that can help individuals with social anxiety to help overcome it.

    At first, I started with simply going to the gym alone. I used to only go with my friends and the time we went was inconvenient because it had to work for both of our schedules so when I started going alone, I actually got more sleep and better results in the gym. I then started doing all kinds of stuff alone like shopping, eating, and walking. I like to go to coffee shops alone and do my homework and I am so much more productive doing that then going with a group of friends. I learned to appreciate my own company and not wait around for anyone to do the things I wanted to do. I think learning how to do things alone is extremely important for everybody stepping into the adult world and trying to gain independence. If you want to do something or go somewhere I do not think you should sit around and wait for someone to want the same things. You never know who you might meet by going places alone. You may find people who share similar interests with you. Going places alone can seem scary and intimidating but is so worth it instead of staying home all day waiting for something to happen.