I have grown up in a society where having a boyfriend is an obsession. It makes a girl popular. He makes her feel wanted and loved. Many girls define themselves by their boyfriends, and when he's gone, they lose themselves. I don't have a boyfriend, and I don't particularly want one. It may sound crazy, but I am not looking for a boyfriend.

Unlike the majority of my peers, I view the endless search for a significant other as a waste of time. Life is busy, and a boyfriend takes time and commitment: time I would rather spend with my friends, and a commitment I don't need at 17.

Sure, it might be nice to have someone to spend Saturday night with when all my friends are with their boyfriends, but I do. I have someone no other guy can even compare with, to whom I can tell all my thoughts, dreams and even insecurities.

I am not writing off boyfriends, I'm just not getting caught up in the idea of one. Someday I'm going to marry a man, so why should I waste time with guys I would not want to marry? No, I don't know who I will marry, but I know that any part I give to a guy is a small part I have taken from him. I want to give my future husband everything, so I have to be cautious what parts of my heart I share. Having a boyfriend isn't committing to marriage, but it isn't meaningless, either.

People say that with a theory like mine, I can't expect to ever find a guy, but I disagree. My theory will turn some guys away, but the guys I would actually want to date will stick around. Society tries to trick me into believing that if I don't have a boyfriend it is because no guy wants me, but society is wrong. I am not defined by the man I am dating, and I do not need a boyfriend to know who I am.

I have faith that I will find the right guy at the right time. It may take longer than I might like and more patience than I think I have, but someday my one true love will come. While I wait, I won't obsess over what I cannot change or over guys who turn away. I will focus on the here and now. My focus is on my friends, family and faith. It sounds crazy, but someday I will have a bunch of rugrats running around, and they will have an awesome father - I just know it.