For me, it was about 5 years after I reached an age when I felt I was old and mature enough to start REALLY dating. I had a couple "boyfriends" in high school, but they were mostly crushes. Never had an intimate relationship with them. So, from the time that I gave myself entirely to another person to now, I went once for 5 years without a partner or the implied perquisites that come with that. Yah, THAT was a little slice of heaven, really.

But, I did feel that based on my poor decisions that I OBVIOUSLY had not been ready to seriously commit to that kind of relationship and took my time to enjoy being single, even if that meant I wouldn't be "dancing in the sheets." Glad I waited, because I could have made A LOT more terrible decisions before I was 25. Heck, I even went so far as to dodge 2 marriage proposals. Again, glad I did. Sometimes, being on your own is a good thing. Even if you are lonely, you can make yourself happy and learn who you are as a person and what you need from life. Cause after all, how can we possibly make another human being happy if we can't do so for ourselves?

Though I'm engaged, I say, ROCK ON MY SINGLE PEOPLES!