Apparently some list is going viral on the interwebs. Which is fine. I don't really care.
What I do care about is the fact that some people are using this article to put down those of us who did get married young, or at least using it for additional ammunition. Honestly, getting married young, middle-aged, or not at all is totally up to personal preference, but here's my reasoning for why getting married young was a good thing for me and my husband.
My husband and I were together for five years before getting married. We started dating at the ripe age of 14. Middle school/high school sweethearts, I suppose. We learned a lot about each other in that amount of time: what we like, dislike, what gets us upset, what calms us down, what stresses us out, what food we're into, what ideas we share, what things we can debate about. We knew a lot about each other, and we were totally in love, so we got married a year after graduating high school.
According to a lot of people, that was way to early. They would say that I don't even know myself well enough, let alone know someone else enough to spend forever with them. But you know what? Just like everyone is never finished learning, no one is ever finished finding who they are. Thanks to my husband, I've found a side of me that probably would've taken a lot longer to discover had I been on my own. I found out that I can be a strong, opinionated woman, and my husband was there to help bring that to the surface. Sorry, random article, but I don't need to make out with strangers to know who I am deep down. I don't rely on my husband for my identity. Rather, he supports me in my decisions, and empowers me when I otherwise wouldn't be able to empower myself.
For example:
I found my religious standings after getting married. Before then, I couldn't take a step back to evaluate what it all meant to me.
My husband and I explored our sexuality together, rather than trying to figure it out by ourselves. Because of that, we know what gives each other great pleasure, and what can shut it down in an instant.
I finally discovered what I want to do for a career (small business), and he supports my decision to do it on my own instead of with a partner.
Sure, you can do a lot of things being single, but you can do PLENTY while married:
1. Get your passports together.
2. Find your "things" together.
3. Set up a romantic date and then make out all night.
4. Adopt a pet.
5. Start a duet act.
6. Bake and decorate a cake or cupcakes together. Feed each other by hand.
7. Get a tattoo that means something to yourself. (Not names, though.)
8. Each of you explore a new religion, then compare experiences.
9. Start a small business with or without each other.
10. Give each other hair cuts. Buy hats beforehand just in case.
11. Role play a first date with each other.
12. Build something together.
13. Accomplish a Pinterest project. Show your partner and laugh at how bad it went.
14. Join the Peace Corps together.
15. Impress your parents-in-law.
16. Make a date to lay on the couch, eat junk food, and watch a TV series all day/night.
17. Split a jar of Nutella and a package of ice cream in one sitting.
18. Make strangers feel uncomfortable in public places. (For example: sit on either side of a person on a bench, and slowly scoot closer together.)
19. Join a gym together.
20. Dance naked together in front of a window.
21. Each of you keep a secret diary from each other.
22. Get yourself something nice, have your partner do the same. Then, give it to each other to wrap and give back.
23. Travel to some random place and party!
Once again, I really couldn't care less what you do with your relationships, but just remember that not everyone is in the same place as you are, and while some people want to live it up and stay single, others are perfectly fine with settling down and having kids.
