Lessons on Life, Love, and Other Stuff

On Breakups, Rejection and #NoBoyfriend2026  

Dear dating diary, 

I recently became single for the first time since entering my 20’s and it has truly been an eye-opening experience.  I’ve had to flirt with people at the club, reject people simply because I’m not interested, and learn to be truly comfortable on my own. The life of a single woman in her early 20’s is foreign territory to me, but I’m loving it and learning how to navigate the treacherous waters of dating. 

Breaking up with someone is not an easy thing to do—it takes a lot of courage to figure out if it’s the right decision. However, as someone who recently ended a four-year relationship, I’m here to tell you that if you’re considering breaking up you should 100% just do it! It’s horrible in the moment, but God does it change you for the better! Instead of spending all your time stressing about your relationship and how to fix it, you get to focus on yourself, your friends, and your own life. 

Once you go single you genuinely start to glow. My friends and I joke that a siren went off the moment I became single. I never got hit on when in a relationship, but in the first week of being single I got hit on 3 separate times. All those fears I had about ending the relationship and never being able to love again disappeared instantly. They were instead replaced by overwhelming love and care from those around me, alongside this feeling of excitement for what was to come. 

A common thing people do after becoming single is download a dating app. There’s no shame in this, it’s very normal to crave something to fill the space that your newly-founded singleness has granted you. However, I urge you to reconsider this reactionary response. Once becoming single, one of my very dear friends declared that the theme of this year is #NoBoyfriend2026. After careful deliberation I have decided that she is right—let’s spend a year without a boyfriend! The rules are simple: you can flirt with, kiss, or hook up with whoever you want. We’ll even allow you to get a girlfriend/partner. Just no boyfriend, and certainly no situationship that is essentially a boyfriend that won’t commit! 

The mentality of #NoBoyfriend2026 is honestly genius. I don’t know about you, but sometimes it feels like I’m so obsessed with the idea of getting into a relationship that it takes over my life. #NoBoyfriend2026 means that, when you walk into a room, you’re no longer immediately  looking around to check out all the eligible bachelors. You’re free from the pressure of impressing in conversation and can truly let go and be yourself. When you go out, you instinctively prioritise having fun with your friends rather than trying to meet someone. It is completely and utterly freeing. 

The best part of #NoBoyfriend2026 is that you can’t lose. For example, the other day I got rejected by a guy who was in the middle of asking for my Instagram because I told him to “shut up” after he quoted Austin Butler at me. It was most certainly a humbling experience that once would’ve left me feeling embarrassed, but I left that interaction with a smile on my face. Firstly, it’s frankly hilarious that someone got so hurt by being told to shut up that they rejected me. Secondly, I didn’t even want a boyfriend anyway and clearly it wouldn’t have worked out! Rejection is no longer terrifying, as it feeds into my goal of not wanting a boyfriend. 

The only real way you can lose #NoBoyfriend2026 if you end up getting a shitter of a boyfriend. Therefore, it is necessary that you set your standards so ridiculously high (as you deserve) that only the best can slip through the cracks. All this to say, if you do end up getting a boyfriend in #NoBoyfriend2026, it isn’t the end of the world. As long as he’s worthy of you, here's to your budding new relationship!  If you do end the year single, then you’ve achieved your goal. It’s a win-win situation!  

If I’m being completely honest, despite the clear logic of #NoBoyfriend2026, I deep-down still want a boyfriend. Isn’t that a horrible mentality!?! Am I not comfortable enough in my own company to accept the challenge of remaining single for the whole year? I have an incredibly fulfilling life surrounded by wonderful people PLUS I’m far too busy for a boyfriend. But I still want one and even #NoBoyfriend2026 can’t change that. I’m going to try my best to adhere to the mindset of #NoBoyfriend2026… but perhaps not the reality. 

Lesson: Being single is awesome so stop obsessing over relationships. It’s cringe and you are so much more than your romantic life.