When I was a teenager, I used to think that the ideal age for marriage was 25 and I would have my first child by 28, and a second one by 30. Guess what? I just turned 31 a few months ago and I am still not married.
The good news is though, had I married any one of my past boyfriends in the last 10 years of dating, I would have made a grave mistake. It is one thing to be at the ideal age for marriage, but it's a whole other thing to find the ideal partner for marriage.
So in retrospect, what advice would I give to a young girl now who says she wants to ideally be married at 25? I would say start searching for that Mr. Right earlier. You don't have to marry him yet, but have in mind what you want for an ideal partner and start looking for him earlier.
I wasted my early and mid 20s on men who did not meet my ideal man criteria but I still dated them anyway. I would date men I thought were hot, or had a nice car, or threw great parties. Not the man I wanted to perhaps one day marry.
I only started to look for Mr. Right when I reached my ideal age for marriage.
But you know what? It takes time to find Mr Right. And after you find him, you need time to date him. And then a wedding takes a long time to plan too.
Plus you have to factor in the likelihood that you're going to get it wrong a couple of times. So if you want to get married at 25, you cannot start working on it at 24 and a half.
It is a recipe for failure and for some people..... panic!
If you are panicking, don't. I assure you that it is perfectly normal to be single. Although I have friends who got married in their mid 20s, I also have many happy, independent, single friends in their 30s.Do not let panic, fear or gossip pressure you into settling for someone who does not meet your standards.
From experience, among my peers, the ones who were married younger, are usually the ones who are now divorced or unhappy.
So do not rush.
Wait.
Wait until you find the ideal person.... not the ideal age.
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