NaBloPoMo: Five

Prompt 5: Tell us about a time when you didn't bend to peer pressure, and you swam against the stream.

My husband and I only dated for six months before moving in together. A month after we moved in, we got engaged. We were married 361 days after our engagement. Yes, it was a whirlwind. But here we are today about to welcome a new addition to our family after almost seven years of marriage.

I wasn't peer pressured to get married; rather, I had peer pressure to not get married.

The beach where we got married.
Photo credit: Sideshowblues on Flickr

I was 21 years old when we tied the knot. I don't think that's incredibly young, but it is young for where I grew up. It was expected that once you finish high school, you go to college and work towards your lifelong career. Marriage and children weren't on the radar for the majority of my graduating class, myself included. But then one day, I met a young man that I just couldn't let go. When friends back home learned that we were getting married, I received a lot of "advice" to not get married.

"You haven't been together for very long." 

"You're too young." 

"What about the rest of your life?"

Seriously. Some friends, right?

But I knew. I just knew. And gosh, if I had listened to those opinions, I'd most likely be stuck in my hometown as miserable as I was when I grew up there. I knew that once I finished high school, I would get out of there... and I now only visit maybe once a year. I'm so thankful that I stuck to my motivation to get out of there because I don't believe I would have ever met my husband. We have gone through so much in our lives together, and I wouldn't trade any of it. I don't regret for one second getting married "young" because I've been able to accomplish all that I wanted to, and still want to, but with an awesome partner to support me.