Natural Selection: Engagement Edition

(Talk about selective pressure on a college campus)

In my University, there’s a lovely tradition called “Ring by Spring.” We’re all under this time crunch to find the one we are going to be with for the rest of our lives. Who will be able to find their soul mate by the time spring rolls around senior year? Some are such over-achieves that they “put a ring on it,” you might say, even faster than they put on the freshman 15. Now that’s what I call making use of the limited resources. My friend and I were walking to class and two guys, who were casually talking about a short girl they had met the other day and how they were so interested in getting to know her, walked past us. The words, “I’m short, take me!” slipped out of my friend’s mouth without even thinking about it. Have we gotten to the point where we will are willing to take whatever comes our way? Okay, so he was pretty attractive, but my point still stands. It’s a huge pressure that is always surrounding us, especially now that we’re at that age where marriage is a possibility. Simply going to school to get your degree isn’t enough if you don’t have at least one serious relationship.

If you haven’t heard my parent’s love story….
It’s basically a Nicolas Sparks book x 100. So, that being said… I’m a strong believer one shouldn’t be obsessing over finding their soul mate. I promise, you won’t be eliminated from the gene pool. But that man of your dreams will come when you least expect it. My mom always tells me that when I do find the one, I’ll just know. Till this day, that confuses me; how do I know that I will know? I guess that means I haven’t found the one yet, or maybe I have but the timing hasn’t been right. But, since my parents have been married for 20 something years and got married literally a month after knowing each other and are still madly in love…. I will definitely be taking my mom’s advice! …. And you should too.
Why did I decide to make a blog post about marriage?

Well… here’s why.
I have this ideal way I want my life to play out
1) Meet my husband during my undergrad
2) Get into OT school
3) Get engaged
4) Finish OT school

5) Find a job
6) Get married
7) Work for a couple years

8) Travel with my husband
9) Have babies
10) That’s as far as I have planned out…

But want to know what’s really funny? It will be very unlikely for it to play out this way because I have no control over it. Only God does. It’s ridiculous for me to even want to plan my life because everything can change in a heartbeat. Life is a crazy adventure and I’m extremely excited to see where it takes me. So, there’s no need to obsess over finding the one because when the time comes, it comes. (This also doesn’t just have to do with relationships.  It applies to other things in life; we could have our mind set on something and then the next day something comes and sweeps us off our feet). I’m currently enjoying spending time with friends and family and having the privilege to study what I love.  I wouldn’t have it any other way. So, when I do find the “one”, he will be the cherry on top of my already pretty awesome sundae.