I have zero interest in dating anyone right now, so this certainly means that marriage is nowhere on the list, it isn’t even on the same notepad.

But that does not mean that I don’t think about the concept of marriage. A lot. When the initial thinking started my original opinion was:  Meet boy, fall in love, get married before it’s too late. That was my thought process at 19. (I know,  scary.) It’s what my mother silently taught me; it’s what society taught me. (Not to marry young, that dating in general is accompanied with these expectations of an evident something.)

And no, I am not trying to combat the fundamentals of marriage. I think marriage is a beautiful thing. But I do think a large number of persons are getting married because it’s “time,” because if you don’t take that next step, then it’s time to break up. And that is where the problem lies. If you’re getting married because you don’t want to break up, all that means is that you’re afraid of change. It’s the same thing as eating a hot-dog every day for lunch since it’s what you’re accustomed to, but instead, you’re marrying that hot-dog.

And as for having  ”cold feet” at the altar…fifty percent of all marriages end in divorce. There are times when “cold feet,” is spot on. Sometimes the body is telling you things that the brain already knows, but you don’t listen because everyone is so busy with writing it off as “cold feet.”

And u-turning back to my previous assumptions of dating, I had that super wrong. I think it takes a very long time for everyone to mature, to be able to understand one’s self, and to have realistic expectations from romantic partners. I get that none of us are getting any younger, but I don’t think rushing the process pays off in the long run.

A person should get married when the epiphany befalls upon her (or him) that whomever she’s with brings out the best in her. When that person makes you want to do small things simply for the sake of his/her happiness. The words “love” and “appreciation” tend to be interchangeable to me. What’s love when you can’t show it? It’s a meaningless word without the supporting proof.

What I just wrote, those are the only reasons why anyone should get married. Oh, and it helps if you can stand the person.