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Nia Long Says 30-Year-Olds Shouldn't Rush for Marriage

The actress urges young women not to compare their lives to someone else's.

Nia Long has been in an exclusive relationship with her boyfriend, NBA player Ime Udoka, for quite some time now and gave birth to her second child (and her first with Udoka) back in 2011, but the 43-year-old actress still is in no hurry to get married. In an interview with Rolling Out, Long said that she feels 30-year-olds put too much pressure on themselves to get hitched and should instead ease up on their expectations.
"I think that women who are extremely driven to success, ambitious, I think they get to a point in their lives where they're like, 'Uh oh. I am 30-something years old, and I don't have a husband and I don't have children yet and what does that mean?' I think what it means is stay in your course because it's going to happen when it's supposed to happen," Long said. "It doesn't happen for everyone at the same time, so you can't compare your life to someone else's."
Long also pointed out that while it's OK to wait until marriage, you shouldn't delude yourself into thinking that you don't need anybody either.
"You have to have an open heart to be vulnerable to accept it when it does come. I think the more success you have as a woman, you kinda go, 'Well, I don't really need a man 'cause look: I have everything I want,' but the truth is you do need a partner because at some point in your life you're not going to want to walk alone."

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(Photo:  Kevin Winter/Getty Images)

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