By Ana Ruiz Brictson | Staff Writer

As we continue to approach the holidays, for many of us single people, it is easy to fall into the illusion that our significant other is someone we may have already met. However, album drops like Taylor Swift’s “Red (Taylor’s Version)” and Adele’s “30” keep us thinking that maybe that person just came into our lives at the wrong time.

For many unresolved relationships, we tend to blame the well-known phrase, “right person, wrong time,” believing that this specific person we grew attached to could have been “the one.”

Oh, how easy it is to believe that we have met our person and that the only reason it didn’t work out is that the timing wasn’t right.

Right person, wrong time should not be something we promote to each other. Instead, we should ask ourselves this: If this is the right person, shouldn’t we be able to make it work at any point in time?

There may be an argument regarding our maturity at the time we met this person, but as we grow up, our choices in who we choose to spend time with change. Would you choose today that “wrong timing” person you had a special bond with five or 10 years ago?

For those who seek to find a lifetime partner, I would believe choosing a person who made a relationship work throughout the worst times is a significant candidate to be the person to accompany you throughout all times.

Everyone deserves to find someone who will not be afraid to stick around when times are tough. As long as you know in your heart this person is the right one, the idea of wrong timing should never cross your mind. It is so easy to fall under this illusion when we wish a relationship would have worked with someone, but deep down, we should know that it wouldn’t have worked out in the future.

There will never be a perfect time to let a person into our lives — either we grow into it or we don’t. We learn to adapt and adjust ourselves to build strong relationships, and if we can’t, then maybe this person was only meant to teach a lesson so that we know better for next time.

To those of you who might get gloomy throughout the holidays from watching too many TikToks or Christmas rom-coms — and who dread the thought of being asked multiple times why you are single — think of it this way: it’s better to be by yourself than to be accompanied by the wrong person.

Now, believe me when I say this: I am no love expert. I am sure many people firmly believe that time, whether it be the right or wrong one, defines many of the events we experience throughout our lives. I agree to some extent that time plays a big role in our lives, but love, as cheesy as it may sound, should not be one of them.