I think Chris Rock said it best about the comparisons between married life vs. that of the single one. You're either " Married and bored or Single and Lonely."

As several of my friends have reached the age of 35, many have began to question if they will ever settle down or at least find a single guy capable of committment. Yes, for those of you who are under the age of 35 and female who have heard about the jokes of a woman's internal clock starting to tick loudly as one encroaches on the age of 35 --It's all true!

The clock ticks loudly for some and it is so loud that it is keeping a few of us up at night. It seems like yesterday that we graduated from high school and laid out our best plans to go to college, get a degree, enjoy the single life for a few years and settle by the time we're 30. Well, life rarely happens the way we planned and one day you look and realize that you have the career you desired, but the man and kids are missing.

Don't get me wrong, there are many women who are content to live without a relationship or what they might deem to be the constraints of marriage and children. I am sure that these independent women might be quite offended by this blog. Nonetheless, for the remaining population, this "Single and Lonely" situation is weighing a lot of women down.

The paths we choose in life utlimately shape one sacrifice for another. A friend of mine became deeply depressed a few years back after having her first child because she felt the path she had chosen in marriage and family had blocked her chance at a successful career and higher level of income. She loved the child and her husband deeply, but in her mind, there was perhaps another kind of loss that had crept into her life. I had to remind her that the path we had chosen as her single friends was not better, but it was simply different.

Funny how the doors rarely open when or where we want them to open.

Dating is either elusive or laughable as it seems that those who potentially might make good mates still have not perfected the art of good conversation or an acceptance of their own shortcomings. Meanwhile, others prove to be too full of themselves. Sure we should have settled by now, but some of us are reluctant to simply settle.

So, a few women are left to living "Single and Lonely" rather than settling for "Married and Bored." Is there a better path?