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What’s the plan? For a lot of us girls, our late 20s are a time when life is supposed to become all laid out.
We do our studies, get a great job, we fly off on a bit of an O.E, meet some cool guy who is everything we ever dreamed of, we come home for a sickeningly romantic wedding, we buy a beautiful do-up villa in the suburbs, and finally the kids come around at about the 30 mark.
I know some of you are screwing up your noses – not me, you’re saying - but know this: there are just as many out there doing the opposite. Nodding, aren’t you? Want babies, don’t you? Getting on a bit, too? Maybe getting a little edgy…wondering where, oh, where that guy could be?
A partner is an integral part of this plan. It’s pretty hard to get into your own home without a partner to share costs. A wedding alone is as impossible as it is sad. And babies – well, we all know it’s possible, but is it quite the same?
Times they are a-changing People are getting married and having babies much older than they used to a decade ago. The average age for women is between 29 and 33 years old. But this is the average age – which means there are still plenty below and above that period who are happily getting hitched. Basically, comparison will do you no good. Don’t look to others for guidelines in your own life. After all, the younger they marry, the more likely they are to divorce.
Feigning nonchalancy Have you ever noticed how great things happen when you’re not thinking about it? There must be some anti-pheromone emitted when you’re desperate to find love, because often this is the time when you will find Mr Wrong, Mr Manipulation or the guy who finds joy in playing with your heart. Keep busy, in the best possible ways. Travel, take in books and films, get a hobby, engage your brain, keep active. When you least expect it (and you have to actually be unexpecting) it will happen. So stop thinking about it (I know it’s hard) and let life happen.
Getting out there You won’t find a man if you cower at home, and as much as I like to promote forgetting about it as the best way to finding a partner, you do need to make yourself known, at least a little bit. Depressed homebodies will only find other depressed homebodies. This might seem nice, but it won’t in a few years. Don’t be a ridiculous flirt or a sad drunk who falls onto any lap she sees, but do try to spark up conversation with, say, one man per week (if you see one who takes your fancy). Don’t be afraid to ask them out too, if you feel a spark. There are a lot of people out there just like you.
Independency... and positivity When you get up in the morning and no one has left a mess in the bathroom, no dripping towel on the floor, no snippets of shaved face sprinkled over the basin, do you praise your lack of attachment? Probably not. We are a bunch of moaners, basically. Every day, try to appreciate something in your life that would change if you were in a relationship. It could be spreading yourself out across the whole bed, it could be letting out a loud fart. Instead of pining for your future husband, mark these days into your life plan as independency days, the time in your life when you could do all this me stuff without considering others or feeling guilty.