Singles Delaying Marriage
By Nina Atwood
I run across stories like this all the time – “Living Single in a Doubles World” is a good example. Extrapolating from the latest statistics that tell us there are now more singles living in the U.S. than married couples, the message is that singles are choosing their status over marriage. But there’s more to the story.
My question is this: If you met someone today - someone whom you found to be very attractive, someone who shared your values and was on a similar life path, someone who left you feeling all tingly inside - and that person wanted to be with you, would you say “No, I’m sorry, but I’ve made a decision to stay single”? I doubt it. So are you really choosing to be single, or is that another way to say that perhaps you are more content and less desperate?
Experience has taught me that there is value in finding a way to be content as a single person. It makes you less needy if you have lots of interesting things to do and friends to spend time with. The stats do tell a story of singles putting off marriage until later in life – not a bad thing when you consider how many early marriages fail. There’s definitely something to be said for not chasing after relationships, for allowing that contentment to bloom without taking any particular action.
Entry Filed under: Dating
2 Comments
1. Mark | October 29th, 2007 at 2:35 am
needafling.com – The problem is we are increasingly living in a virtual world where people aren’t real and we are doused with spam. Avoid spam and be sure to actually meet someone in real life….not just on the internet.
Good advice overall tho…
mark
2. Ben | November 15th, 2007 at 1:39 pm
Interesting article. Even if I met someone as you describe who shared my interests and so forth I would respond “so sorry, I’ve decided never to marry” The reason: I doubt that any woman who tells a man she loves him etc. is telling the truth. It’s a desperate money and emotional grab on her part. In marriage, a man is far more likely to lose $100,000 thru divorce than to gain it thru marriage benefits.