Help! What to Do When All Your Friends are Getting Married

Something strange happens when you hit your mid-20s. You suddenly realize you aren’t really a kid anymore, but at the same time you don’t quite feel like an adult. You’re stuck somewhere in the middle, trying to enjoy the benefits of both lifestyles. One of the strange realizations you eventually come to is that all your friends are getting married. Surely that means they’ve exited childhood and fully entered adulthood, right?

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The problem isn’t that you’re stuck in some sort of mid-20s crisis – or even that all your friends are getting hitched and moving on – but rather that you’re looking at the situation from the wrong perspective. Let’s take a look at some of the things you need to do when it feels like everyone you know is pairing up and saying ‘I do.’

Lay Off the Social Media

One of the most practical things you can do is curb your social media habits. Social networking sites like Facebook and Instagram ultimately exacerbate the situation. When you see a friend’s profile, pictures, or posts on Facebook, you automatically assume their life is perfect. Be wary of coming to this conclusion, though.

According to a study conducted by two German research universities, one out of every three people who log onto Facebook leaves feeling worse. This is especially true of people who view photos and/or rarely post themselves. “We were surprised by how many people have a negative experience from Facebook with envy leaving them feeling lonely, frustrated or angry,” said the study’s author.

If all of your friends are getting married, posting honeymoon pictures, and saying how great life is, you’re naturally going to want what they have and wind up feeling frustrated. By limiting the amount of time you spend on social networking sites, you’ll be able to avoid these emotions. After all, rarely are people as happy and successful as they seem on Facebook.

Talk With Your Friends

Sometimes your friends don’t really know where you’re coming from. If all of your good friends are now engaged or married, they may fail to understand the emotions you’re going through. Sitting down with them and having a frank conversation regarding how you feel may encourage them to be more careful with their words and actions.

You should be cautious with how and when you bring up this kind of conversation, though. For example, five minutes before your best friend walks down the aisle isn’t the time to say you’re lonely or jealous. However, it would be appropriate to set up a lunch date a few weeks later to explain that you feel a little out of place and would love some encouragement.

Enjoy Being Single

Have you ever spent time truly thinking about why you want to get married – or what bothers you about the fact that all your friends are pairing up? For a lot of people, it’s the idea of marriage that sounds great. Do you actually want to be married right now, or do you need a few more years to figure things out and settle down? As a single person, learn to embrace all the great things that come with being independent. You have an entire life to get married, there’s no need to rush.