Every unengaged twenty-something-year-old girl knows the feeling of scrolling through her newsfeed and seeing yet another girl from high school flaunting her sparkly new diamond ring all over the Internet. And whether or not we want to admit it, deep down inside there's at least this little piece of us that is secretly jealous because, let's face it, we've had our wedding planned out on Pinterest since we were 16. But a lot of young couples will tell you their decision to get married came with plenty of unwanted opinions from other people, most of them dwindling down to the fact that, well — they're too young.
Statistically, somewhere around 64 percent of women are divorced before their 25th birthday. With numbers like that, it is easy for a person to assume it's because they got married so young; however, I can assure you that age has nothing to do with the number of failed marriages. The problem with this generation is that they have no respect for the vows that they may take. I've seen it a million times, people getting engaged after 2 months of dating or saying "I do" because BAH and tricare is pretty nice to have. Some military guys see it as a one way ticket out of the barracks while their future wife is entertained solely by the fact she's the first of her friends to get to plan a wedding. Or maybe you do it because society has taught you it's the right thing to do after accidentally getting pregnant.
After all getting married looks like so much fun! You see it on Facebook how cute decorating their home is, making dinner for your husband, being able to cuddle up next to each other at the end of every night. It's natural for you to believe marriage is easy when you're on the outside looking in, but the fact of the matter is it's actually pretty hard. Marriage takes compromise and sacrifice. Whether you think so or not this decision is going to change more parts of your life than you could have ever expected. This is not something you rush into, and it's certainly not something to take lightly. Those two little words make all the difference.
People in this generation are guilty of doing it for all the wrong reasons or under false pretences. This day in age divorce isn't a last resort, it's the backup plan whether your 18 or 45. I have seen people get married straight out of high school and do better than anyone expected. There isn't a doubt in my mind that young couples can go on to live a long happy life together. Being a twenty-something unengaged girl, I won't lie and tell you I've never wished I was the one posting pictures of my ring on Instagram, but I can tell you what a relief it is knowing I won't spend the rest of my life with someone that at one point I thought I'd marry.
