is there no life without marriage?

Question

I wonder why are we always thinking of marriage as if this is the be-all and end-all of life. Cant we have a successful, complete and happy life without marriage. Isnt there anything that might make us very happy and fulfilled apart from marriage?

Answer 1

Marriage appears to have evolved over the years as a compromise to individual freedom and choice in order to address three major issues

security of sex
procreation
loneliness

These are very important issues and the first two are what need to be addressed while you are still reasonably young, whereas the third and most important one hits you when you have crossed certain age... it is more important because at that stage you are almost left with no other option to get over the feeling of loneliness.

All said and done, though, marriage can of course not be as important as life itself. The current society is trying to find various other options, but I personally believe that all these alternatives to marriage seem to have more disadvantages than the institution of marriage itself. We haven't found any better alternative than marriage, even as marriage does mean a lot of compromise.

Answer 2

Life is what you make of it. No one can dictate what is a meaningful life or that a person will not be fulfileed apart from marriage.

I am married ( 22 yrs now) , but I have single friends who are quite happy remaining single.

The secret, I think , is that whether married or single, one has to be happy and find fulfilment. If a marriage is on the rocks, it would be better to become single than to endure a "living hell" on earth.

If one is unhappy remaining single because that person is feeling lonely, longs to have children and other things that can be found in a marriage, then she/he may want to start a serious relationship which hopefully can lead to a happy marriage.

In this world, you can always find many happily married and fulfilled couples. You can also find many unmarried or divorced people who are also happy and fulfilled.

Yes, we can certainly have a successful, complete and happy life without marriage. It's up to you to plan for your own life and no one should dictate for you how you want to live your life.

May you have a happy and fulfilled life apart from marriage, if that's what you prefer. =))

Answer 3

If this were so many of us would be dead.
Life without marriage can be very fulfilling and actually fun. A partner is a wonderful thing and I am currently alone and wish that I had a partner, but being alone is better than being in a relationship that isn't good. In my marriage I was more alone than I have ever been when I was single.
And there is very little, if any, difference between marriage and a committed relationship that has no paper document and government sanction except the cost of an attorney.

Answer 4

There's no reason at all that a loving couple couldn't sustain a long term relationship without marriage. Of course you could.

The problem is that the KEYS to a happy, successful relationship are:

- a good amount of shared interests, as opposed to totally different individual interests

- communication; this is essential for all aspects of the relationship, from good sex to healing the pain of arguments

- a sense of forgiveness, because let's face it, we're human and we're going to screw up on occasion

- a sense of mutual respect

- a sense of mutual trust

- patience

The reason that half the marriages end in divorce is that the couples are just not mentally and emotionally mature enough, and they lack one or more of the things above. Too many relationships (married or otherwise) end over stupid things; not cheating or some other more serious matter. And a good relationship can even survive cheating. It happens.

So, do people "have" to get married? No.

But with too many couples there's too much,"me-me-me" and not nearly enough "us."

I hope that helps.

Answer 5

The present structure of society doesn't allow a life to go peacefully without marriage. In marriage with disadvantages, the advantage is there is some body always who supports one another in need. The natural requirements are fulfilled, hence it seems in normal course it is required. For those of higher order it is not required.

Answer 6

Absolutely. Not all of us are always thinking of marriage. It is conditioning. Naturally we are not made for that kind of thing.

I've been married twice (obviously both unsuccessful) but in neither choice did I push or even have a traditional wedding. It was because it was expected of me and I wanted to have children that my parents would recognize as existing.

Find some interests that you like and pursue them. There is no recipe for happiness, but don't let society (and shows like "Friends" perpetuate) dictate what you should.

I'm quite happy and fulfilled doing what I do (sometimes it involves marathon movies) so don't even set expectations for yourself in that regard. Go out, be happy and just don't hurt people and then it's all good buddy!

Answer 7

Marriage does certainly bring meaning in a certain sense, though unfortunately it doesn't most of the times.

There is surely better life without marriage provided one has higher calling, say, in what to be and what to do. Perhaps, otherwise it may not be a cakewalk.

Tolstoy and Gandhi would have been better off without marriage.

Answer 8

Marriage and society in general is an outcome of millions of years of humans existing on this planet. These concepts have not evolved overnight. These have been thoroughly thought through by a few hundreds of generations. Most of them thought it was the best way forward. There were, are and will be people who think like you do. But not the majority. Hence we have it as we have it today.

Answer 9

Life can be more successful and happy without marriage. But marriage, as a product, has been advertised so well, that people are literally happy to put a noose around their neck, and hang themselves. Marriage is unnecessarily stressful and puts an end to all creativity. There is no romance in marriage, only suspicion, lack of trust, anger etc. Many youngsters mistake romance for marriage, which is not true. Romance exists only till the date of marriage, and then, it disappears

Answer 10

But, of course, there is. We have all the means necessary to live a creative, passionate life as individuals. Marriage can also inhibit our growth and thirst for knowledge and choke our abilities to make an unfettered inputs to life, society and the world around us.