Every time, marriage! marriage! marriage!

I do think about marriage since I am of a marriageable age, but there are some people that come to my mind and I just start feeling pity for them.

Why?

Okay, these are ladies—my secondary school classmates—some of whom are the same age as I am, while some are older than me. These ladies were, and still are, very intelligent. While we were in school, they were very committed to godly activities, as that is one of the yardsticks used to measure a responsible lady in my part of the world. They are not yet married, and I feel for them a lot, especially considering the kind of pressure they are facing from family, friends, and society at large. Sometimes I feel the pressure too, but theirs is much greater than mine. They are ladies of marriageable age, and the pressure is always stronger, no matter how much they try to resist it.

Even with all that, it is always advised that one should not be pressured into marriage. However, in a world like Africa, the pressure is very real. Once someone gets to a marriageable age and is not married, it appears as though they are not serious with their life or that something is wrong with them. That is why many young people of this age struggle to beat the pressure by all means, even if it means getting married as soon as they become eligible.

Have I been pressured about marriage before? If you read carefully in my first paragraph, I stated clearly that yes, I have been pressured—and I am still under pressure—but I am outsmarting the pressure.

I have friends who have gotten married, and I attended their weddings. For some of them, I had to travel home to attend the wedding. And you know, once you travel down from your place of residence, especially when it is far, to attend a marriage ceremony, people feel the urge to ask when yours will be. I have been asked that question many times, but I usually wave it off because I do not want to be rushed into marriage.

Thanks for reading.

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