[daveT]

Hello Jurollo:

I am 29 now. I can say for surety that 24 is five years ago, and that is a very long time. I remember my 25th birthday, and I remember (not literally) wanting to kill myself. I felt so dang OLD!

This is part of the journey of life, you go through bizarre crisis that make no sense, and I think that for whatever reason, your brain speeds to far into the future at the cusp of 25. It is now that you are feeling mortal, feel like you should have a life like others, etc.

I felt odd at 25 because I knew a lot of people that were in a serious relationship or married. I read in a paper that the average American was married at 26. My goodness! I had a lot of work to do! The average marriage lasts about 7 years, and that says a ton about readiness and how that relates to maturity.

Getting nearer to 30, things in life make a little more sense. I don't feel nor look old. At this point, I have realized that certain goals and ideals are not attainable. I know many people will say this is BS, but I can assure you that after sustaining two years worth of injuries and other unspeakable events in my life that I will never be able to train like I used to (see my avatar).

What about singleness? I am single, and don't mind it really. I don't feel the pressure of settling down, but I do know that it would be nice to have a constant companion. I have a few female friends, but I don't see them in a way that I want to find myself in bed with them for the rest of my life.

I don't think that I will ever get sick of meeting new women, but I do feel an urge to do man things for a woman. Not in the physical as much as emotional. This would include witnessing and effecting another life story, buying X-mas gifts, and basically waking up in the morning and saying "hi" to the same face everyday.

This did not come about one day. It is a series of thoughts that gets this thinking rolling. One day, you will see a girl in the bar, and think, "you know, she's laughing now, but she'll be puking all over the place later on." Eventually, you will meet a girl in and intellectual place and find that you prefer to meet girls in this setting. It is a gradual change, and it sneaks up on you.

Some people purposely try to make this change, and it is an error of epic proportions. I think that these people are seldom ready for a commitment, much less sharing a lease and a child.