Scenario:
Everyone is trying to hook you up with someone “special,” but you want to find a man on your own terms. How do you opt out?

Avoid the set up and say no to saying sorry. It’s okay to feel good about your single status. “Don’t feel the need to apologize. Especially, when … you follow what’s right for you. People are going to throw all their opinions at you no matter what you’re doing,” Ford says.

Shift the focus. Let them know you’re happy with life—as is. Don’t give them the “pity me, I’m single” power over you. Ford suggests, “Just smile, say ‘Thanks, I’m really happy right now,’ or ‘I’m doing just fine on my own.’”

Scenario:
Out one night, you meet a guy and chat ‘till closing time, and after working up the courage, you ask for his number. He replies “Sorry, I’m seeing someone.” So how do you keep your cool when you’ve just been rejected?

Shrug it off and move on. Ford says, “You have to remember you are getting rejected for a whole host of reasons and 99% of them have nothing to do with you. You cannot take it so personally, so feel sad for a moment, but know that it happens to everybody.”

Fight becoming the stereotypical bitter single woman. Nothing is worse than becoming cynical and pessimistic. Ford says, “I think that’s the worst state that we can let ourselves get into as single women, because then we become that cliché.” And that’s not a clear picture of who you really are.