The Young and the Married

I'm in a wedding tomorrow. It's the first wedding I've ever been in so I'm kind of excited (despite all the drama between the bridal party, but that's another post... :eyeroll:). I'm happy for my friend, but I can't help but be slightly bothered that most of my friends are married or getting married. Some of them even have kids.

Problem?...

...I'm only 22!

I know back in the day it was common for people to get married young (to be honest, I think it was mostly because premarital sex was so taboo in those times). But at one point it seemed like a lot of people were putting their careers first and waiting until their 30's to get married. Now all of a sudden it seems almost like we've gone back to the 50s, and there's an epidemic -- at least in my social circle -- of youngsters getting hitched.

It's not necessarily because I'm single that I feel so strange about it (ok, maybe I'm slightly bitter about being alone), but I just don't feel like my friends and I are old enough to be married with kids. Maybe (unconciously) I associate marriage with growing up -- so if all of my friends are growing up, that would mean I should be, too. And if that's the case: 1. I'm not ready to be grown up yet, and 2. Even if I were, it's not like I'm turning down marriage proposals left and right. So essentially, I'm getting left behind, and that's no fun.

But what also partially bothers me is that some of my friends who are married seem kind of miserable. They didn't take the time to get to know who they are and what they want personally before they dropped their anchors. They missed out on the experiences of being unattached and free. And while I can definitely say they're not missing out, the fact that they feel like they are is the problem. It's that grass-is-always-greener mentality that makes them miserable. They might have a great husband/wife/family -- but it's the not knowing what they missed (or, in actuality, didn't miss) out on that drives them crazy.

Divorce rates have been skyrocketing, and I definitely think marrying young is partially to blame. Of course the fact that divorce is more socially acceptable these day plays a major part, too; but a lot of these marriages ending in divorce seem to be cases where the couples married young and inevitably grew apart.

I'm not saying I'm against marriage or that I believe young people can't find the loves of their lives early on. I'm just saying that these young people need to be aware that marriage is hard work. Maybe since I'm not married and never have been makes me unqualified or too inexperienced to say anything in some people's eyes; but I have observed many other relationships during my life, so I do have an opinion. There may be days, weeks, or even months when you and your significant other aren't each other's favorite person, but I truly think you have to weather the storm to see the rainbow.