When someone asks you your relationship status, do you answer "single" but then add a kicker like "for now" or "but I'm working on it" to make yourself feel better? Do you view singlehood as a line that you are waiting in, some stain to remove from your clothes, or some other hopefully temporary state that's waiting to get fixed in some way? If the answer is yes, then here's a surprise. Chances are, you are not going to be very happy being single.

That's because anticipatory limbo states are rarely happy ones. You don't tend to say, "If only we could wait in this Taylor Swift ticket line forever" or "the best part of waking up is waiting for Folgers or something to be put in my cup." No, when you are hoping that a better situation is on its way, your focus can be on reducing the current waiting period as much as possible, rather than enjoying it. The same applies to singlehood if your singular goal is to get rid of it.

But what if you, gasp, never find that special snookums, that cutie patootie, that fruitcake of all fruitcakes, that one and only, that soul mate? Will you look back at your life as being spent in the ticket line........

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