by William Falcone

Created on: July 19, 2009   Last Updated: July 20, 2009

Single is only another label that can be thrust upon one by a society hell-bent on labeling every person based on their occupation, education level, or marital status.

One's state of mind,and particularly a healthy state, is only dependent on what one's personal experiences and perceptions of what "it" is. The "it" being one's definition of happy versus unhappy as there are unhappy married people, unhappy singles, and unhappy celibates. I suppose there are even unhappy multi-sexual partner individuals whose constant quest of sexual satisfaction or excitement are unfulfilled.

My point is that we are all single. As radical as that may seem it is a basic analysis of the human condition. We are born alone and we die alone. In between these events we have a life that is defined for us by how others perceive us. We experience our individual experiences as individuals. Yes we share with"significant" others. However, living with another being is not what sharing is necessarily all about.

Sharing one's life with another is not contingent upon being married or cohabitation with a girlfriend or boyfriend. There are social relationships in various groups/clubs, family gatherings, religious clubs, professional, and political or activist groups. Also what is wrong with the prospect of having a friend who you are intimate with on occasion? Now I will describe the best panacea (at least for this writer) of how best to live one's life to its fullest.

The single life in the following description is a life that has true meaning. It is a life not defined by a relationship with another human being. The life that is best is when a person is one with humanity in general. This is a person who is self-actualized. This person knows who he or she is. This person's happiness is not defined by having a spouse or live-in partner. This single life is defined by action with one's self development. It is also defined by the individual's inter action with the world.

Single in this context is not some isolated sad sack sitting at the coffee shop thinking how lonely life is because he does not have a full-time partner. This person grabs life with all the gusto he can muster. This single person realizes that there is but one life to live and that actions must be taken to create significant change in the world. Does the change have to be all encompassing and newsworthy ? No. The change should result in self-fulfillment. It can be making a difference in a child's life. It can be focusing on

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