Lately, it seems that the only real reason I check Facebook anymore is to see my peer network's most recent engagements, marriages, and children's births. Seeing as how I'm not one for offering my opinions on politically-fueled arguments in the social network arena (or altogether, for that matter), I never use my profile to share any articles other than my own. However, I am always pleasantly surprised when the occasional birth or engagement post pops up as I scroll through my news feed, and I can't help but to notice that these types of surprises are becoming more and more common with each tap of the Facebook app.
Thing is, though, these types of developments rarely come from my "adult" friends. Rather, they come from the group that composes probably 70 percent of my entire Facebook friend list: people I know from high school, many of whom were a part of my graduating class. Immediately following the surprise factor in these tidbits of news, reality sweeps through and punches me square in the teeth. As a current 20-year-old with laughable prospects in any of the aforementioned realms of adulthood, seeing such remarkable things occur for faces of my generation (familiar faces, nonetheless) scares the crap out of me.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not scared because of some type of rooted belief about the proper age for marriage or parenthood. No, this is more of a self-reflective, internal issue. People my age are demonstrating these types of strong, sincere commitments left and right while I struggle to commit to the same fantasy football starting lineup on a weekly basis. How can I, at age 20, possibly see myself pledging the rest of my life to one person when I can't even decide whether to start TJ Yeldon or Lamar Miller as Running Back this week?
The short answer is that I can't, and that answer is the main focus of my attention. Am I falling behind in life's growth process? After all, if this trend continues, there won't be any singles left by the time I'm ready to settle down. Judging by the way things have gone so far, that time is a few thousand years away. Not only do I have absolutely no sense of what that type of commitment entails, but I haven't even been on a date in... well, you can imagine. I know I can't be the only one that feels this way.
Adding to the "holy crap" factor in all of this is the fact that my life so far has been a near mirror image of the males on my mom's side of the family, and you guessed it, all of them are single and childless. I'm not saying I'm ready to make any brash decisions about the rest of my life at this very moment in time (see previous paragraph), but I can't help but to feel slightly alarmed.
So basically, I'm dateless (and have no reason to believe that will change in the near future), don't like making big decisions, and have family history working against me. That's not a good combination for somebody who has been engulfed by disbelief at the number of people my age getting hitched. People are growing up, and boy, are they growing up fast.
Somewhere along the line, I really missed the boat taking 18-22-year-olds into adulthood. It's not that I have a problem with that, it's just that I feel like I'm not doing enough with my life. I'm not saying I want to go out and buy an engagement ring tomorrow, I just wish that life would slow down sometimes, because honestly, it actually feels like it's flashing before my own two eyes.
To the young parents, wives, husbands, and fiances, I would like to say congratulations. There are big decisions being made all over the place today, and I think it's awesome that young people can demonstrate the maturity and step into adulthood in the making of such big decisions. For that, I tip my cap to you all. If anybody is still interested, I decided to go with Lamar Miller over TJ Yeldon this week.
