Living Alone After Three Decades

This year is definitely a time of discovering who I really am and who and what I really want in my life.  I am looking forward to what is revealed in the next several months- so far, so good great!  Today marks two months that I have had my house all to myself.  Let me tell you, it has been more wonderful than I even imagined it would be. For those of you in the same situation as I am in or think you might soon be in a similar situation, these are three realities I am now enjoying while living alone:

#1          Eating What I Want When I Want

              Gone are the days of cooking dinner based not on what I wanted but what everyone else in the family wanted. Now that it is just me eating dinner, I eat what I really want at whatever moment I want it.  Sometimes it is a full dinner around 5:30; sometimes it is a bowl of cereal when I get home from work at 4:00. A bonus is that I keep only foods that I want in the house. There are no more piles of Little Debbie snack cakes or Chips-Ahoy on the counters.  I never ate that stuff, but it cluttered my counters for years.  Now my counters are clear of sugar-filled snacks and my refrigerator and cabinets are filled with the food for my healthy-ish lifestyle.  Well, maybe one or two not-so-healthy things find their way in there at times…

#2          Completing Household Tasks and Yardwork My Way

              This might seem silly, but some of you married people out there will understand this luxury. When I need to hang a picture or pull weeds or do a load of laundry, I now do it without someone telling me a better way to do it. Granted, I have not had any major household maintenance issues come up, but I have done a lot of work around the house and in the yards in the last two months without a supervisor, and nothing has fallen off the walls just yet and my front and back yards look great. An added bonus is that I am proud of what I have done and have built confidence to do so much more.

#3          Decorating Every Room in the House in My Style

              I have made changes in almost every room in the house in the last two months.  The rooms reflect me and how I want those rooms to be used.  My new, lightened spirit needs a home that reflects that.  The white shears on the windows, beach décor, and comfortable spaces make me smile and keep my mood from darkening.  Plus, I am using the entire house, not staying out of rooms that seem to have no use.  My house has always felt like home, but now it also feels like me.

Now I don’t want you to think that my ex-husband insisted on having everything his way because he didn’t.  The truth is, as in many marriages, I sacrificed my happiness to try to please him.  This was not something I was taught as a child.  This was something I wanted to do- I valued his happiness and comfort over my own.  I consider this one of the biggest mistakes of my life.  I now put my happiness and comfort first.  If that makes me sound like a royal bitch, oh well.  After all, I am the queen of the castle!