Everyone feels the pull to settle down, be it from external pressure (family, friends) or the inescapable march of Father Time. We can't control aging (well, not until I perfect my anti-aging potion, that is), and we can't control when our friends and family members decide to settle down.

(Sidebar: I've never liked the phrase "settling down." To me, planning a wedding and having kids is the opposite of "settling down." There's nothing settled about it. Reading some Captain America comics with a nice craft beer is my version of "settling down." Plus, the phrase implies that you've given up on having fun and being young when, in fact, the opposite is often true. My friends who are married and have kids are far more active and outgoing than some of my mopey single pals. Their lives are just more focused. Maybe we should call it "focusing in.")

You're right-- 30 is not old. The world isn't like Logan's Run, where anyone over 21 is sentenced to death. (Sidebar two: They're remaking Logan's Run? Why am I not surprised? Pretty soon, every single piece of film ever shot will be remade.) We live in a culture that values youth to the point where it is socially acceptable, nay, trendy for 25-year-old adults to play kickball and 32-year-old women to attend costume parties dressed as members of Jem and the Holograms. Didn't you get the memo that 30 is the new 25?

Because of this, men (and women) feel like they can act like they're 25 well into their late 30s and often early 40s. That doesn't mean men don't feel the same pressure to settle down as women. We have the same thoughts and pressures, whether from parents or from simply not wanting to find ourselves alone in our mid-50s. Two things make these thoughts perhaps a bit less all-consuming for men: the biological clock and the (lame) cultural trend of older men running around with younger women. But that doesn't mean we don't have them.

Look: Everyone has their own pace. Some people are married with kids by 35, some later. Some adopt, some conceive via surrogate. And some never have kids at all. Your friends and family members will be supportive of whatever you choose. Plus, I am a firm believer in the fact that there is someone out there for everyone. For now, be happy that your sister and best friend found the person for them and were at a place in their lives where they felt ready for marriage. But don't let it change anything you do. The worst thing you can do is to get married just because it's what you think other people want you to do. That is a one-way ticket to unhappiness. Keep living your life, working hard, and being confident in your choices. When the right person comes along, it won't matter if you're 30 or 35 or 45. All that matters is that you've found him and are in a place where you're ready to start the next phase of your life.