by: Arielle Wilburn
There are many nights
Where I have sat crying on my bedroom floor
Loneliness weighing on my shoulders
Blinding me from remembering that worth and singleness
Did not go hand in hand
I have written countless poems
Love letters to boys who never loved me back
Love letters to men I wasn’t sure existed anymore
I have questioned
When my love story would ever come into fruition
Was I someone he’s called to live a life of singleness?
I cannot count the number of conversations I have had
Sounding a lot like “I just want to go on a date
I just want to dress pretty and be looked at like I was the only girl in the room
Was that so wrong?
Was it supposed to hurt this much?”
I gazed longingly at the true love waits reminder on my finger
But soon—it became more of a burden than a whisper of what could come
So one day,
I Left it behind me and said I’m tired of permanently waiting
I took off my purity ring
Not because I stopped waiting for true love
But because I wanted it to come find me
I had a conversation once with two elderly ladies
And after spilling my heart about who I was and what I do
The final question they asked me was, “So you’re dating someone?”
That same day I had a conversation with two pastors and they too responded ,
“Wow. You’re such a solid girl with a good faith but you don’t have a boyfriend?”
My reaction to both of these conversations was,
Wait…why couldn’t I be single and awesome at the same time?
See the misunderstanding that comes with singleness
Is that it’s assumed it’s a place in our lives where we walk
Around aimlessly twiddling our thumbs
Waiting for someone to come save or complete us
But I cannot be completed, when I’m already a whole person to begin with
I will not wait to be saved because I’m not in need of saving
I cannot sit idly by because I have work to do-
these hands have people to hold and this mouth has stories to tell
Your hands have people to hold
And your mouth has stories to tell
You have a purpose
not to be woman waiting for man
Your purpose
Is to be all that God has created you to be
To take the gifts he has given you and sprinkle that mess like glitter
Every where that you go
You have dreams, passions and goals
You are already complete,
You are already whole
You are your own captivating galaxy
You see,
the God of this universe wants to be in relationship with you
Is that enough?
The greatest love story ever told
Already written with your name as the main character
And a man who decided that he would rather die then stop loving you
So stop twiddling your thumbs,
stop waiting in your towers and your slumber for someone to come save you
No more Adele—unless you really need to
Put Sam Smith on hold for a little bit
Put down the chocolate, get up and do something remarkable with this life you have.
Photo Cred: Juskteez Vu
Arielle Wilburn is a spoken word artist, author and blogger. She blogs at chroniclesofalioness.com.
