Hallo-October!

If you think that giving up your singlehood is scary ??, then I just did that! ??

No matter how good/kind/diligent/successful you are, there will always be 'talks' that stigmatise being a 30-something single lady.

• When I was in China, I was part of the 'leftover' girls (剩女).
• When I am at work, I hear remarks such as, "She has so much time to do what she is doing now because she is single" (which honestly sounds like an excuse for themselves in my opinion, I think we just have different priorities).
• When I am at gatherings, I will be asked if I am the "weird" one with sky-high expectations. Something must be terribly wrong with me because with my calibre (huh? what calibre?), I am NOT supposed to be single ??.
• At the business table, they want me to be single because I would not have other commitments to distract me yet they also think that I am incomplete.
• On social media, there is this 'perfect' image that a woman must check: wife, mother, daughter, daughter-in-law, sister, friend, professional worker, leader, mentor PLUS many other side roles (cook, cleaner), AND still looking gorgeous.
• The list goes on... mostly unpleasant and unwanted experiences.

There are many life skills and hard skills that I have learnt in my past 8 years of staying single. I have learnt to make it fulfilling for myself. I have learnt to be my own best companion. However, if there is one thing that I would highlight is this,

Everyone's journey is different and everything has its time and place. We will always be walking our paths at our own pace and there is absolutely no need to feel bad.

I cannot deny that societal pressure is real, but I have also witnessed numerous incidents when we make haste decisions due to a lack of information, a lack of clarity and a lack of self-awareness, which usually lead to worse outcomes!

If you happen to be on the receiving end right now, I hope you will be encouraged knowing that it is YOUR game, and you have all the power in your hands to make your journey meaningful. Happiness comes when we stop comparing!

And if you are just a spectator, I hope that we can extend more kindness (such as not passing unsolicited comments) to the people around us because you never know how that can light up someone's (dark) journey!

Well now, I'm welcoming myself to the doubles game, and perhaps embracing another set of questions coming up my alley!

Becoming Irreplaceable?aims to empower fellow professionals to build sustainable and meaningful careers, this is definitely one way for us to increase our own happiness index! It is really about taking the control back.