17 Confessions From People Who Wish They Were Single

We all have those moments. Maybe they come after a particularly brutal fight with our boyfriend, or maybe it's when we see all the fun drama happening with our unattached friends. Sometimes it's a whisper, sometimes it's louder, but there's that little nagging voice that says, “I wish I was single.”

You don't even have to really mean it. You can love your partner to pieces, but you still look back fondly on your single days when you could be messy and selfish and have a few guys on the go who fulfilled our various needs. You're a little envious over your single friends who get to enjoy swiping left and right on a bunch of randoms. Sure, you love your Netflix and chill nights with bae, but sometimes you'd like to go out and grind on some guy with no feelings of guilt. Maybe it's not even that you want to be with other people, but that you want to be by yourself, responsible for only you (and maybe a cat or something). Maybe the single life calls to you because you've jumped from one relationship to the next with no breathing space. You're not alone: these 17 confessions are all wishing for the exact same thing.

17 The College Freshman

“Sometimes I wish I came to college single.”

This seems like a pretty common desire for a lot of freshmen who choose to go to college while still being attached to their high school boyfriend or girlfriend. In fact, the choice to dump your SO from your high school years is almost a given, and many college kids choose to do it when they go back for Thanksgiving weekend, since they've had enough of a taste of college to decide that they'd like to enjoy the single life with this whole new crop of people.

If we're being totally honest here, we've gotta say that it's pretty unlikely that you'll stick with your high school sweetheart for the long haul, especially if you've chosen to go to college in a different city, state, province, or country. The distance and the amount of new people you'll meet is too tempting to remain stuck in your old ways. If you're feeling similarly to this confessor, maybe it's better to pull the plug before doing something you'd regret.

16 The Pizza Lover

“I miss the single life… lounging around in boxers, not giving a f*** about life or women, and ordering pizza for days at a time.”

Whoa, whoa, whoa, wait a second! Who said that being one half of a couple means that you're not allowed to enjoy pizza, or eat only pizza for days at a time? When you've gotten to a comfortable point in a relationship, you can absolutely choose to gorge yourself on pizza while laying around in your underwear - you'll just happen to be sharing that pizza with someone else (so order a larger size)! This confessor seems to have a pretty jaded view of what it means to be in a relationship, and while fancy dates and getting dressed up can be fun in the short-term, it's the ability to laze around all day with the person you love that keeps things solid. Maybe this confessor should search for someone who enjoys living that lazy life as much as he does, and then he won't have to give up the parts about the single life he seems to enjoy so much!

15 The Family First Girl

“Sometimes I wish I was single so I could have wild, unfamiliar sex again. But losing my family would be devastating, even if my husband is annoying AF right now.”

A big thing people complain about in marriage or long-term relationships is that things get stale. You already know what works and what doesn't, what you like and don't like, and the mystery and fun can get sucked out of things pretty quickly. Add to that the prospect of kids (which seems to be the case in this confession) and the whole sexual nature of your relationship might be waning, because you're simply too exhausted and burdened with too many responsibilities to make time for each other.

Now, we're not here to give advice on something we don't know much about, but maybe it's worth indulging in a fantasy that does the wild, unfamiliar thing, like in role-playing! Getting to know someone who isn't your SO (but who actually is) can be an exciting way to spice things up in your relationship - and in the bedroom - without having to resort to infidelity.

14 The Hermit

“I miss being single! So tired of acting like I enjoy the company of another human being everyday!”

Hey, we've all been there at some point, right? Sometimes it can feel like a hassle to have to be around someone all day, or feel like you have to entertain someone else, or even feel like you're not allowed to be yourself because you're with someone else 24/7. Sometimes, you just need a moment alone to recharge your batteries and figure out how you work and what you want as an individual. Maybe that time alone is something this confessor should look into. That doesn't mean he or she needs to break up with their partner or even go on a break à la Ross and Rachel, but maybe taking a couple hours to themselves could do a world of difference! Needing to be on your own once in a while doesn't make you a bad person, it makes you someone who works best once they've taken a breather to calm themselves. Ultimately, doing that will make you a better human being first and a better partner second.

13 The Long List of Ex-Lovers

“I love my husband but I miss being single because I could talk to multiple guys. And when one would stop talking to me I had backups. And I could get laid every night, not just once a month.”

This confession sounds like a woman who simply isn't getting the attention she craves from her husband, which is why she's pining for her single days when she could get a regular boost from any of the other guys she had in rotation. Showing how much you care for, love, and are attracted to your SO is SUPER important in order to maintain a healthy relationship, even if it's been years and you assume they know all that stuff already. Everyone likes a little reminder of how much their partner adores them!

It really seems like this confessor feels like she's being taken for granted and unappreciated, and that she earns a lot of her appreciation from the attention of guys, which can be the case for a lot of women. If her hubby doesn't wake up and realize that, while his wife loves him, she may be looking elsewhere, then he might end up losing her, which clearly nobody in this relationship wants.

12 The Second-Guesser

“I wish I had spent more time single. Now that I'm engaged there are so many questions. I just went from one serious relationship to the next.”

This seems like a pretty common confession, especially for people who get married at a young age or those, like the confessor, who are serial monogamists who jumped from one relationship to the next without allowing themselves a chance to date around or just be single. There is a lot of pressure to enjoy the “best years of your life” and sample the buffet of guys, so it can force a lot of women to second-guess their decision to get hitched early. Sure, they love their fiancé, but what if there is someone they'd love more who's still out there? Cold feet is totally normal when you're making the leap to tie the knot, and while this person doesn't wish that they were single per se, they do wish that they had enjoyed the single life more before deciding to settle down. We think that, no matter what age you get married, committing yourself to another person for the rest of your life is scary, and you might always wonder “What if?”, at least at first.

11 The Free Spirit

“Sometimes I wish I could be single so that I could be excited and spontaneous and flirtatious all over again.”

There is something to be said for the fun, easy flirtation that often comes with being single, often because there are few emotions tied up in it and because you don't know the people you're flirting with very well, so maybe you're even a bit less self-conscious than you would be normally. It can seem like a pretty good alternative if you're stuck in a relationship that feels like no fun, with zero excitement or spontaneity.

Maybe you're stuck in a rut, relationship-wise, and so you're romanticizing how much fun it was to be single, to have the freedom to do whatever you wanted with whomever you wanted, to flirt without feeling guilty, to have no responsibilities to anyone but yourself. Missing all the good bits of being single - while conveniently forgetting the bad bits - is pretty common if you're in a partnership that has stalled, like this confessor unfortunately is.

10 The Sweatpants Aficionado

“I miss being single with no kids when I could go to the gym for five hours a day and be sexy and in shape. Now I'm just like, 'sweats here, sweats there, sweats everywhere.'”

This confession doesn't even sound like the writer misses being single so much as they miss having time to do their own thing. (Although spending five hours a day at a gym sounds both torturous and excessive.)

Once you get married and have kids, you're sharing your life with someone else, which can definitely cut down on the time you used to enjoy having all to yourself. This confession also sounds like the writer doesn't feel sexy or beautiful anymore, maybe because she's stuck spending her life covered in sweatpants and spit-up. It can definitely give your self-esteem a beating! Moms wants to take a break from the responsibilities of parenting is a totally normal desire, even if moms are loathe to admit it, and it sounds like what this confessor really needs is an extended, kid-free vacation - and who can blame her? A little refreshing time for herself to reclaim her sexy self, sans children, and maybe change out of those same old sweatpants.

9 The Mess

“I wish I was single. I need to get my s**t together so I don't have to live like this anymore. I want to be happy.”

There's a lot that's not being said in this confession that makes it more interesting than some of the others. For instance, what is this writer living with? What is their relationship like? Are they being hurt or abused or manipulated? Why are they not happy? Do they simply feel like they don't deserve to be happy? Maybe they don't know what they want, and they're just wise enough to know that they should figure that out before continuing to be with someone else. Needing to get yourself together and figure out who you are and what you want is one of the greatest struggles in life, so it makes perfect sense that the confessor wants to do that, but that they also, perhaps, don't want to let go of the shred of stability that they have, however unhappy it may be making them. Hopefully this confessor finds what they're looking for, and ends up truly happy in the end.

8 The Worrywart

“Sometimes I wish I was single, so I could only worry about myself instead of her all the time.”

Relationships require a certain degree of responsibility, because you're committing yourself to another person. When you love someone, you also worry about them and - assuming you're a decent person - want what's best for them. Sometimes, that worrying can be an awful lot of pressure, especially if your SO is someone who regularly causes you to worry a great deal, which is what seems to be the case in this confession.

It can be exhausting to have to always pick up the other person, especially since a healthy, functioning relationship should be a two-way street. If this confessor is so busy picking up the pieces of their partner, who is there to look out for and take care of them? No wonder he or she wants to be single! Maybe breaking up with their girlfriend would be a good thing, even if it was difficult, because it sounds like this confessor is in need of some self care before they can continue to take care of someone else.

7 The Insecure

“I wish I was still single… So I would stop worrying about becoming single every day and driving myself crazy thinking I'm not good enough for him.”

This confession is a rare one! Instead of wishing they were single so that they could flirt or sleep with other people and effectively keep their options open, this confessor would rather be single so that they don't have to keep worrying about when and whether or not their SO will dump them! Sounds like a bit of a conundrum, doesn't it? Essentially, they would rather the Band-Aid be ripped off instead of driving themselves crazy worrying about when the other shoe will drop. We're gonna go out on a limb here and say that the writer of this confession probably has a bad history with relationships, in which they were taken advantage of or betrayed, which has forced them to walk on eggshells in all subsequent partnerships to avoid getting hurt. It's a sad situation when you look at it like that, and perhaps this confessor should talk to their SO (and probably a therapist) about their feelings of insecurity and inadequacy.

6 The Mistreated

“I secretly wish I was single. I would be treated better than I am now.”

We have no idea how this confessor is being treated, if they are in a relationship where they'd be better off alone because their partner is a total d-bag, or if they have expectations of being waited on hand and foot and their partner simply hasn't lived up to that ideal. We're going to assume that it's the former, in which case we say that it's better to be alone and temporarily unhappy than with someone who makes you unhappy.

Happiness should be a major factor in choosing to stick things out in a relationship, and while that's not to say there aren't trials in every long-term partnership, the good should outweigh the bad, not the other way around. Happiness isn't a stupid or silly thing to want, and if you find it with someone who DOES treat you well, then go for it! If, like this confessor, you think you'd be better off single, well, maybe that's the path you should be taking.

5 The Homeboy

“Sometimes I wish I was single just so I could make female friends again… ”

This sounds like a pretty controlling relationship, where the dude is under the thumb of his GF, who commands that he not have any other relationships with women. It comes from jealousy, a need for control, and possibly a past instance of betrayal, but whatever it is, it's definitely not acceptable. Isolating your partner from other people - especially those who are platonic individuals who have been in your SO's life for a while - is a sign of emotional abuse and manipulation, and it's totally not fair. Plus, it points to a whole host of trust issues in the relationship, so we can't blame this dude for wanting to be single just so he can interact with women who aren't his crazy girlfriend/fiancée/wife! Sure, it might make you uncomfortable that he's close with other women who aren't you, but do you really want to be the kind of person who doesn't allow your SO to have a life outside of you?

4 The Reformed Bad Girl

“I know relationships mean sacrifice, but sometimes, I meet someone and I really wish I was single so I could go through another sl*tty phase.”

Sounds to us that maybe this so-called “sl*tty phase” wasn't really a phase at all! We're definitely not sl*t-shaming here, but it sounds ot us like this girl isn't ready to let go of the fun times and experiences she had while single. Sure, relationships require some sacrifice, but to say that that's all they mean is a pretty jaded view of how the whole thing works. If you're really hankering to get back out there and bed strangers (which is fine as long as you're not committed to someone else and being safe), maybe that is something you need to try to get out of your system before things get more serious. Otherwise, you'll always be looking to the other side of the fence and imagining that the grass is greener. It's not fair to you to deny what you want, and it's not fair to your partner to string them along when your heart (and lady parts) just aren't in it.

3 The Emotional One

“I love my boyfriend more than anything, but I hate being in love because he is all I can think about. I miss being single, I was ruthless and apathetic, nothing could stop me.”

Hey, falling in love is a tough thing. It's not all rainbows and kissing in the rain and grand declarations like they show in the movies. It's scary to be that vulnerable with somebody, even if you trust them completely. Allowing your armour to come down enough that you can open up to another person is heavy stuff, and not to be taken lightly. Yearning to be apathetic and ruthless isn't exactly a good thing, but it makes sense if you've never been swept away in this kind of all-consuming love like the writer here seems to be dealing with. Apathy and ruthlessness are safer, because you can't get hurt. It seems that, in the case of this confessor, it's not that he or she wishes they were single so much as they wish that they will never be hurt by this person they love so deeply. Love is a scary thing, y'all!

2 The Operator

“Sometimes I miss being single so I started working as a phone sex operator so I can talk to other men guilt free.”

First off, do people still use phone sex operators? That seems extremely out of date, especially with the proliferation of adult chat room, free adult content online, and the myriad of weirdos you can find on Craigslist who are more than willing to take things into illegal territory. But, perhaps we're wrong, and there is still a market for phone sex operators!

A lot of people might have problems with this confession, and if the confessor hasn't informed her SO of her new gig (and we're guessing she didn't), then yeah, it's a bit problematic, because while she may not be cheating in the traditional sense, her new job is something her partner didn't sign up for, has no knowledge of, and impacts their relationship. Talking to a member of the opposite sex doesn't have to be laced with guilt, but if you're more interested in making that conversation naughty, then there's definitely an issue.

1 The Lady Lover

“I love my husband with everything I am, but some days I wish I was single so I could hook up with other women.”

Has this confessor heard of the miracle of threesomes? If she identifies as bisexual or pansexual, it makes absolute sense that she would still want to pursue those avenues, and chafe at the idea of being married to one man for the rest of her life, no matter how much she loves him. We wonder if this writer has broached the possibility of a ménage-à-trois to her hubby already? Perhaps she did, and he refused the idea, owing to her personal history. If that's the case, then yes, we can imagine why this is an idea she's unable to shake.

Of course, we have no idea how the relationship between these two people works, and whether or not introducing another person (or people) is a possibility, but it's certainly something to think about! Maybe being single isn't actually a requirement in this case to have your cake and, well, eat it too!