to worry I am getting too old to meet a partner?

[NameChanger567]

I have just turned 25 and I have never had a boyfriend. I don't really know why but it is really getting me down. People keep telling me I should start looking for a man to settle down and get married. I have been trying to find a partner for a while with no luck and I am getting a bit desperate now. They say that soon all of the good men will be snapped up and I will be left with no one.

AIBU to start getting anxious that I am getting too old to get a boyfriend to settle down with?

Don’t be ridiculous

25 😳😳

oh come on.

People date and meet people at all ages! I met dh when I was a single mum aged 31.

Lots of people aged 25 aren’t even bothered about meeting anyone yet. You’ve got loads of time!

Get out and have some fun before you settle down!

The desperation is probably stopping it happen. Focus on yourself, doing what you love, and relationships will follow.

I really wish I could go back to my mid 20's and not care about being in a relationship, because realistically I was never going to settle down then (I did it 10 years later, as do most people these days). Your 20's are about having fun, by all means date, go out and enjoy yourself. But please don't feel you need to rush into a long term relationship, you will have the rest of your life for that. Think conversations about vacuum cleaners, washing cars and cleaning the oven (not fun or exciting).

You have time to meet yourself first. Ykwim. Go and do a few things on your own. It may be scary at the time but afterwards you feel so brave.

It sounds like you are getting a lot of pressure from someone. I had a few rubbish boyfriends before meeting a lovely one at 28 who I married. Unfortunately he's now my late husband and I'm much older. You have plenty of time. Tell the people to chill.out and quit the pressure

25 isn't over the hill! Still loads of time.

Oh for goodness' sake. I am fat and nearly 50, and I met my actual soul mate four years ago, when I had lost a lot of hope. You are half my age, the man you're hoping to meet is out there living his best life- go out and live yours and your paths WILL cross.

29 and I am the same so I understand where you are coming from.
I feel like I’ve missed the main places that you meet someone (school/uni), I have a steady life/job/hobbies and can’t see how I will meet someone new at this point.

Don't be daft

My nans 73 and been with her boyfriend 6 months now 😂

Just enjoy yourself. Go on some dates, join a club if you have an interest, go out with your friends. Plenty of time to settle down. I do understand as most of my friends got married early 20s but all but one couple are now divorced 20 years later. Met my now partner late 30s so you are far from over the hill :)

Really? Pretty much every couple I know didn’t meet at school or uni, would you have really wanted to meet your life partner at school?

Yabu for asking on aibu, where the standard answer to any relationship question is LTB.

I hope they're not going to be snapped up; that sounds alarming and painful.

I saw this the other day and it made me seriously worry about crocodiles; it's a combination of reduced human traffic during COVID lockdowns and global warming that causes them to proliferate, apparently. 🐊🐊🐊🐊🐊

thanks for answers everyone. I know I am probably being unreasonable to think this but it is so hurtful that other women my age have all had a relationships and I haven't. It makes me tearful every time I think about it. People have said to me that all of the best men are taken by around 25/26 and I need to hurry up and find someone. They have also said that I need to find a man before I lose my youthful looks. I can also see myself starting to age so I know what they mean.

You're 25 not 65!

I doubt all other women your age have had a relationship. We are all different. Some people don’t even make it to 25. Don’t focus on the negatives and don’t obsess. I doubt also you want someone who wants you only for your looks, relationships need to be built on far more than that. Relationships aren’t even always the be all and end all, plenty of people are in bad relationships. Then they wish they were single.

I met my bloke when I was 45. I don’t know who’s been telling you all this rubbish @NameChanger567 but they’re talking bollocks.

At 25 I was about to set off to Australia (then NZ) for 3 years of travelling. Settling down was the last thing on my mind!! I didn't find 'the one' until I was back in the UK 4 years later and even then I wasn't looking (we lived together at housemates in London). Take the pressure off yourself, enjoy your life and good things will happen. Definitely don't need to rush at your age, being single in my twenties was the best fun

I was 25 when I met my first serious boyfriend. Had several long term relationships after that, got married when I was 35. So there is plenty of time for you OP!

Oh and I worried about it too, having only had short term things until then. Your feelings are valid.

25:and too late!!

Good help me then 66, divorced, lots of wobbly bits and I've not given up looking.

Only problem is that I'm getting bored with French dick pics/videos 😀

I just knew the OP was going to be in their 20's, it seems like the age range when everything is a catastrophe, and not matching up to your peers is the end of the world.

Some patronising advice from an older person:
Trust me, you will be fine. Life is not a race to the end, try not to rush so much, enjoy the now and not always be looking at what you don't have, or waiting for the future. Learn to be ok on your own, cultivate good friendships, hobbies, interests. Become someone that you like and respect, so that if and when a great person does come along, you will be in a good place to build a strong supportive relationship.

Also, don't put up with arseholes (of which there are many).

I met my husband when I was 50 and got married at 52.