It's happened, much sooner than I would have expected, I must admit: I have officially found myself reaching the point in my life where people I graduated high school with are starting to get engaged, married, have babies, and start a family. (Some individuals I graduated with are also winding up in jail, but that's a different story).
Regardless, my Facebook and Instagram feeds are slowly filling with wedding pictures and sonograms, and I have found myself falling behind in a race I didn't know I was running in.
Don't get me wrong, I'm beyond excited for those of my age cohort that are joining this wagon. Your babies are adorable so please continue to post pictures on Instagram and recounts of cute things they said on Facebook. Your dress was beautiful so yes, I do want to see your wedding photos. I just won't be joining you in that step of life yet or maybe ever, and that's okay.
If this was the 1950s, at nineteen years old, something would be thought to be wrong with me if I wasn't thinking about marriage already, and hadn't found a potential partner for said marriage. However, this is 2017 and I will not apologize for being focused on myself right now. I have several years of schooling and a heck of a lot of life to live ahead of me. I can't see the purpose of meddling my heart and time up in a relationship that may or may not last and distracting myself from all the goals I have set for myself.
Today's world seems to say to guys and girls my age that if we aren't in a relationship, something is wrong with us and that the end goal for my life should be marriage, kids, and a white-picket fence. I know I'm not alone when I say I have a few bones to pick with this sentiment. My life may never result in a husband and kids (sorry, Mom - I may not make you a grandmother), but that's my choice to make.
When I finish college and get a job in my field, which is priority number one right now, I want a tiny house and a dog. I want to travel and drive down the coastal highways of California, eat at a pizza shop in Italy, hike Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania. And right now, while I'm in college? I want a good GPA, internship opportunities, and the chance to keep myself busy with the volunteer organizations and clubs I love being apart of so much.
Maybe I'm destined to "settle down" and have kids one day, but maybe I'm not. No matter where I end up in life, the important thing is that I picked it for myself, and not for another person. At the end of my life, I have to look back and say I made myself happy, and right now I am happy so please stop asking me when I'll be finding "someone special". If I find that person tomorrow, great. In five years? Okay. Never? Alright, that's fine.
My life is where I want it to be right now, and I'm perfectly fine with that, single status and all.
