“I’m engaged!”
“I’m pregnant!”
Two little phrases I hear way too often these days. I’m in my mid-twenties–that era in one’s life when, out of the blue, it seems that every female friend I’ve ever acquired is walking down the aisle and/or popping out a baby. It’s like an epidemic. An epidemic that single girls seem to loathe…while at the same time, secretly envying.
I’ll outright admit that I hate it when my friends are in relationships. Suddenly, they go from girls that want to go out and have a good time, to girls that spend most nights at home with their significant others. Conversation that used to be full of talk of dating and sex suddenly becomes talk of house-buying and pregnancy. Gone is the gossip and the talk of the crazy stuff you did last weekend–it’s replaced with OLD gossip and talk of the crazy stuff you did YEARS AGO. It’s like someone just let the air out of the fun balloons.
But at the same time, I’ll admit that I envy my coupled-up friends. They’ve found that special someone they WANT to spend time with. They no longer have to play the dating game. They’re happy to spend their nights at home in front of the TV. They don’t need the wild and crazy nights. Their lives are starting to stabilize. I’ll admit that I sometimes want that.
But that’s the conundrum. Is it possible to have it both ways? Can you find a balance between the freedom of youth and the stability of approaching adulthood? Can you let your hair down while also searching for “grown up” relationships? How do you enjoy that little bit of freedom you have left while being surrounded by friends with marriages and mortgages? Is it possible for the married and the unmarried to still maintain the friendships they had BEFORE they grew up?
