What Happens When You Quit Dating Cold Turkey For A Year

You sit with some uncomfortable moments

The realization of how very difficult this will be will continue. You’ll wake up on some weekends, when the distraction of work isn’t there, and realize that you will not be going out to bars to flirt and try to meet someone that night. You don’t have any dates scheduled. You don’t have lunch with a fling on the books. And then…you’ll feel a deep loneliness. It’s this pang that’s very scary. You’ve spent your whole life rapidly covering that up by throwing a new love interest at it. But now, you’re not allowed to. You have to confront it. There is strength in sitting with it, realizing it won’t kill you, and coming up on the other side of it. But you’ve never had to do this before. You can’t self-soothe with hookups and the thrill of swiping through dating apps. It’s just you and yourself. It’s kind of scary – turns out.