By Brittany Stubbs
Blogger-turned-author Mandy Hale is affectionately known around the world as “The Single Woman.” With a heart to inspire single women to live their best lives without settling, she cuts to the heart of the matter with her inspirational, straight-talking, and often wildly humorous take on life and love. Her message reaches millions of women across the world every day through her blog, and with followers from all over the world, she has made a name for herself as the voice of empowerment and sassiness for single women across the globe.
In I’ve Never Been to Vegas, But My Luggage Has: Mishaps and Miracles on the Road to Happily Ever After, Hale delivers heart-warming and hilarious stories from her life filled with love and loss, glamour and goose bumps, faith and friendship, big dreams and battle scars. She shares even her darkest moments in witty, winsome ways that make her readers not only feel her pain but also laugh with her and apply her hard-won nuggets of inspiration to their own lives. In the end, “happily ever after” rarely looks and feels the way we imagined it would, but as Hale is learning — and as we can learn along with her — it is often better!
CupidsPulse.com had the pleasure of interviewing the author and getting to know more about her latest book.
We love the title of your book! Can you explain why you chose it and what it means?
The title is based on a crazy experience that found me getting off a plane in Vegas and not completing the trip. At the time, it was this mortifying and awkward moment, but now, I can look back and laugh hysterically. I just found it such a great parallel for my journey and the journey of a single woman in general. We all have this idea of where we think we’ll end up or where we’re supposed to end up, and where we actually end up is rarely anything like that picture.
But what is so great about life is it usually turns out a million times better than what we ever would have expected. So I wanted to hit on the point that I may not have ended up where I thought I would, but I ended up where I belong. I hope that, by sharing these stories, I encourage other women and remind them that no matter where they are or how crazy things might seem, there is significance to everything. They will end up where they’re meant to.
Related Link: Finding Your True Destiny After Losing Love
Since you refer to your stories as “Mishaps and Miracles on the Road to Happily Ever After, “ we’d love to know: How do you personally define “happily ever after?”
For me, happiness is a choice. It’s realizing that “happily ever after” is one unforgettable adventure at a time, not some far off destination. Single women often think their ultimate goal is to be married and ride off in the sunset with Mr. Right. I think that’s great, but you don’t have to wait for that to happen to find happiness in the here and now. And honestly, if you don’t find happiness in the here and now, I feel that ultimately hurts your ability to eventually attract someone to share in your “happily ever after.”
You share some personal secrets and struggles in your book. Did you find reliving some of these experiences challenging?
I’ll be honest, it was absolutely terrifying at moments. Writing it, re-writing it, editing it, reading it for the book tape…I definitely got to a point when I wanted to be done reliving some of the stories I share!
But in the same respect, I found it helpful. Knowing some significant people from my past are basically reading my diary is really scary; I’ve compared it to standing naked in Times Square. But in order to make an impact, I believe you have to go to those places. If even one person is encouraged to make a positive change based on something I went through, it will be totally worth it to me.
Have you ever found dating difficult because of what you write about for a living?
I’m actually struggling through this right now! It’s hard to know sometimes if a guy is just totally freaked out about what I do or if he’s just not that into me. Dating in a normal situation is challenging enough, so dating in the situation I’m in makes it even more difficult. I feel like men often think I’ve essentially branded myself “single” for life, but unless you see me walking around dressed as a nun, I’m not planning on staying single forever. I would love to be married and have a family one day, but my heart will always be to inspire single women, and that’s why the blog is called the “The Single Woman.”
Related Link: Is He In It For the Long Haul?
So what’s the best advice you could give a single woman looking for love?
First of all, make sure you’re open to love. I encourage all women to be confident, strong, and independent, but I also think that in order to find love, you have to break down some of your walls and be vulnerable at times. Single women often get in the habit of doing everything and taking care of everything themselves, and it’s important to step back and remember that you don’t have to rule the world by yourself. You can let your guard down every once in a while and invite someone else in.
That being said, I think it’s also important for single women to have a clear sense of self. Be aware of your boundaries and standards, and don’t apologize for them. You should never sacrifice who you are to cater to someone’s issues or insecurities.
Last but definitely not least, never settle. I feel like women reach a certain age and get so frantic if they’re not married; they feel like they should settle for whatever guy is standing in front of them or risk being alone forever. This is so not the case! When you settle for someone out of fear, you’ll eventually regret it. Forever is a long time, and investing your heart, time, and life into a relationship you’re not 100 percent about is never a good choice.
To learn more about Hale, check out her blog, http://thesinglewoman.net/category/blog/. Be sure to purchase your copy of I’ve Never Been to Vegas, But My Luggage Has today!
