Ever since I was a little girl, I dreamed of my wedding day. At 26, I’d thought I’d be married with at least one child by now; in reality, I’ve only just had my first serious relationship. As they say, life will rarely go according to your plans. Still, I want to walk down the aisle in the near future, and while some people think that’s silly or that I’m better off focusing on other things in life like building an amazing career and living it up as a single woman, I don’t care. I want to get married and I wish people would stop judging me for it.
- Marriage is more than a piece of paper to me. Some people are okay being in a long-term, loving relationship their whole lives without putting a ring on it, and good for them. But for me, I want that next step. I want the piece of paper, I want the security, and call me naive, but I want the promise of forever.
- I value old traditions. So what if I’m old school? I like and value certain traditions. I believe they exist for a reason. After all, if you look at your parents or grandparents, you’ll probably see that those traditions worked extremely well — provided each person stuck to those values and unwritten promises. I don’t think marriage is outdated or unnecessary at all.
- I’m an old soul. I’m the kind of girl who belongs in a simpler time that has long since passed. I long to be courted by a proper gentleman in a time when texting didn’t exist. I want to wear a beautiful white gown and exchange vows in front of the people we love most, just like my grandparents and their grandparents before them did. If you’re an old soul too, you’ll understand where my heart is coming from.
- When I get married, it’ll be forever. Unlike many people who treat getting married like getting a new car, I still believe in the sanctity of marriage. I believe in forever and always, in sickness and in health. You might think I’m living in a fairytale world that doesn’t exist, but those are my beliefs and they make me who I am.
- Getting married and raising a family is a full-time job. Those people that say being a mom and housewife is easy have no idea. Getting married, staying married, and raising a family is damn hard work but the learning and the growing process is priceless. Don’t tell me that I’m taking the easy way out, because that’s far from the truth. I’ve seen how hard my own mom had to work to raise me and my siblings and keep her relationship with my father healthy. It was anything but easy.
- There’s more to life than work. So you want to focus on your career and become really successful, and there’s no way marriage or kids could fit in to those plans? Well, that’s great that you have ambition and that you’ve found a job that you want to give your all to. However, the truth is, there’s so much more to life than work. There’s so much more out there waiting for you, and as you grow older, you may begin to question what you gave your life to and what you’ll have to show for it in the end. Your job won’t keep you warm at night.
- I don’t judge you for not wanting to get married. I couldn’t care less how you choose to live your life — that’s none of my business. If you never meet someone you love enough to want to spend the rest of your life with, then good for you for not settling and caving in just so that you don’t spend the rest of your life single. If you don’t want to get married even if you do find “The One,” fine — but don’t judge me for wanting to.
- Marriage can be wonderfully fulfilling. I know divorce statistics might have convinced you that I’m talking crap, but hear me out. I think that our generation is far too quick to give up when things get rough. If you choose the right person and you’re willing to work at it, there’s no reason why marriage can’t be incredibly rewarding and fulfilling. Like anything in life, it will be what you make of it.
- How can you know you don’t want something if you’ve never tried it? It’s just like eating snails, jumping out of an aeroplane or running a marathon — if you’ve never done it before, you can’t say that it’s not for you. That’s so close-minded. If you’re already married, then I’ll be more inclined to listen to your advice and opinions, but if you’re not, then you know just as much about it as I do.
- Marriage is one of the hardest journeys you can go on in your life. Do I expect it to be hard? Hell yes! But will it be worth it? I believe with all my heart that it will be. I think it will test me to my limits, challenge me every single day, and change me as a person. I think it will be painful, magical, and more inspiring and liberating than I could begin to imagine.
