Girls where I'm from are raised with one idea - get married and have babies. Get married early otherwise you'll be an old maid nobody wants. Have babies as soon as possible so you have someone to care for you when you're elderly.
Unfortunately for some of those who had taken those teachings to heart, it hadn't worked out. Because... let's face it, we're rubbish at making decisions on who we want to spend the rest of our lives with at 18. But it's not uncommon for girls from the little town I call home to be married straight out of secondary school and popping out their 2nd or 3rd child before their 21st birthday. At 18, girls and boys are too rash, still governed by hormones, lust and fantasies.
I remember the days in school when girls would plan when they aim to get married by and how many children they wanted. They even devised ways to "foretell" such dates. Harmless fun, probably, and one I did not partake in because I didn't believe I would ever get married (I couldn't stand the boys we went to school with... too boisterous, too loud, too obnoxious, as is common for teenage boys, and this is on top of the fact I didn't trust men). I read too many foreign books, interacted too frequently on the Internet, and I didn't follow local conventions. I constantly rebel against what was expected of me. And as a result, I was probably an outcast in school. I didn't notice much - I was too busy with my nose in a book or computer.
I am glad of it now.
Do you really know what you want from the rest of your life at 18? You haven't even discovered your full potential. You are going to undergo huge changes in the next few years of your life as you step into adulthood and find your place in society. You will learn a lot of new things about yourself. How will you know your love interest at age 18 will still fit into your life when you're "grown-up"? You don't even know yourself.
There are friends who are unmarried, who feels like they're left behind. But why? If it's not the right time, it's not. If it's not the right person, it's even more so you shouldn't rush into it. Because some people have, and some people are currently living to regret it. I am thoroughly sad to hear two of my close friends are having marital problems, and they feel it's due to their marrying too soon, too young, at an age when all they cared about was how "sexy" their partner is. And after a bit of growing up and maturing, they find themselves different persons wanting different things, and their partners no longer the match made in heaven they thought they were. And at age 27, they're much too old for angst and much too young to be growing bitter. If the average life expectancy is 75, that's potentially 48 years of unhappiness due to one mistake.
I'm 27, and by the time I get married (if it happens as currently planned) I will be 28. This is "old maid" category not too long ago, but SATC may have changed this perception. Even at 27 going on 28, I don't know if I'm making the right choice, this may blow up in my face altogether, but I sure am at a much better place and mindset to make that decision than I was 10 years ago.
I hope everyone will educate their children that deciding on your life partner takes time and a certain level of maturity, and even if you never find a suitable partner, it's perfectly fine and normal to be happy single. Tell them not to believe in this "other half" nonsense, a partner in your life is to enrich your life, not complete it for you. You should be complete already.
Don't mind me if I'm sounding preachy - lately all I seem to hear of is marriages growing sour and breaking up from all over the globe. *sigh*
Unfortunately for some of those who had taken those teachings to heart, it hadn't worked out. Because... let's face it, we're rubbish at making decisions on who we want to spend the rest of our lives with at 18. But it's not uncommon for girls from the little town I call home to be married straight out of secondary school and popping out their 2nd or 3rd child before their 21st birthday. At 18, girls and boys are too rash, still governed by hormones, lust and fantasies.
I remember the days in school when girls would plan when they aim to get married by and how many children they wanted. They even devised ways to "foretell" such dates. Harmless fun, probably, and one I did not partake in because I didn't believe I would ever get married (I couldn't stand the boys we went to school with... too boisterous, too loud, too obnoxious, as is common for teenage boys, and this is on top of the fact I didn't trust men). I read too many foreign books, interacted too frequently on the Internet, and I didn't follow local conventions. I constantly rebel against what was expected of me. And as a result, I was probably an outcast in school. I didn't notice much - I was too busy with my nose in a book or computer.
I am glad of it now.
Do you really know what you want from the rest of your life at 18? You haven't even discovered your full potential. You are going to undergo huge changes in the next few years of your life as you step into adulthood and find your place in society. You will learn a lot of new things about yourself. How will you know your love interest at age 18 will still fit into your life when you're "grown-up"? You don't even know yourself.
There are friends who are unmarried, who feels like they're left behind. But why? If it's not the right time, it's not. If it's not the right person, it's even more so you shouldn't rush into it. Because some people have, and some people are currently living to regret it. I am thoroughly sad to hear two of my close friends are having marital problems, and they feel it's due to their marrying too soon, too young, at an age when all they cared about was how "sexy" their partner is. And after a bit of growing up and maturing, they find themselves different persons wanting different things, and their partners no longer the match made in heaven they thought they were. And at age 27, they're much too old for angst and much too young to be growing bitter. If the average life expectancy is 75, that's potentially 48 years of unhappiness due to one mistake.
I'm 27, and by the time I get married (if it happens as currently planned) I will be 28. This is "old maid" category not too long ago, but SATC may have changed this perception. Even at 27 going on 28, I don't know if I'm making the right choice, this may blow up in my face altogether, but I sure am at a much better place and mindset to make that decision than I was 10 years ago.
I hope everyone will educate their children that deciding on your life partner takes time and a certain level of maturity, and even if you never find a suitable partner, it's perfectly fine and normal to be happy single. Tell them not to believe in this "other half" nonsense, a partner in your life is to enrich your life, not complete it for you. You should be complete already.
Don't mind me if I'm sounding preachy - lately all I seem to hear of is marriages growing sour and breaking up from all over the globe. *sigh*
