This is a question William and I get asked ALL the time, and to put it quite bluntly we cringe inwardly every time. We'll get married when we're ready. We're not ready now.
People ask how long we've been together, and when I respond with "coming up to six years", they get this look of horror combined with pity on their faces. I can almost hear what they're thinking.
"Shame...he doesn't want to marry her" or "she may as well move on, this relationship is a waste of time".
In all honesty, neither is true. We are just a young couple doing what we want before we get tired down to kids, a bond repayment,etc. We both love traveling, and Jane been fortunate enough to cover a good deal of Europe,Mauritius and the UK. Places we would not have been able to visit of we had a house/kids or were saving/paying for an expensive wedding (which is more stressful than pleasurable).
Sadly, finances don't allow for couples to take their kids with them on overseas holidays, so it's a judgement call really.
The choice is this: do we want to get out there, experience life and have fun or fall into line and complete the ring/house/kids routine? Or worst fear is getting to that stage of our lives and regret not enjoying our youth (and freedom if you will).
By no means am I judging those couples that have taken the plunge (some have been lucky enough to travel extensively before meeting their soulmate and selling down so power to them). To each their own. And that is what we ask in return - please respect our decision NOT to follow in their footsteps.
Sure, I may only give birth to my first child (if we even have kids - topic for another blog) when I'm a 30 something, and risk being an old mum but at least I'll know I was ready to settle down and had done what I wanted to do.
Recent studies have shown that couples that get married later in life tend to stay married longer than their eager to wed counterparts. What is a statistic at the end of the day? Some people feel compelled to slot themselves into the prerequisite categories set out for them by society, and thus end up unhappy and dissatisfied with their choices later in life.
I've ventured slightly off topic here - back to the topic at hand. So if someone asks me again when we are getting married, I'll smile and refer them to this blog post. Well, either that or respond with "We AREN'T getting married" and revel at the look of absolute shock on their faces.
Yes, we do want to get married. When we're ready.
No comments:
Post a Comment