Marriage: The New Fad???

A successful marriage requires falling in love many times, always with the same person. -Mignon McLaughlin

I think celebrities are trying to break each other’s record on who can have the most anticipated, publicized wedding and then have the fastest divorce. Are these people serious?!?! Is nothing sacred anymore?  Is everything really about fame and fortune?? What happened to “til death do us part” or “happily ever after” (with a lot of hurdles to get there)”?

Now granted I’ve never been married, but I would imagine that before I said "I do" or even accepted a proposal I would know the person well enough to last more than 72 or 41 days! I don’t believe in divorce in most situations, but of course there are exceptions that trump this, with abuse being one. However, in the case of Ochocinco, Evelyn knew that fool was a cheater and had beat on someone in the past! Maybe she thinks like a lot of women, who believe they can change a man.  Other than those few exceptions, I truly believe most people get divorced because they are simply unhappy or don’t believe they can fix the issues. Of course, no one should stay where they are unhappy, but how many people truly work at trying to save their marriage or fix their issues before calling it quits?

Being a hopeless romantic, I try really hard to believe in the institution of marriage. However, I didn’t grow up with good examples of strong, positive marriages so foolishness like this continues to put a bad taste in my mouth. I have to continuously tell myself that marriage is what you and your spouse make it; there is no mold, only what works for your individual marriage. I now have some friends that seem to have great marriages (what do I know, I’m only looking from the outside) and I listen carefully to stories and advice and hope to one day apply things as necessary. Some of the best advice I ever got from one of my married friends is that “People expect their spouse not to change, but the truth is everyone changes. You just have to find the person that you want to change with and that you can put up with through those changes.” One day the right one will find me and I will have to accept the changes we will go through together.

And while I’m talking about marriage, I guess I should address the topic of same sex marriage too. Now what’s funny to me are all the people running around against same sex marriage like it’s going to ruin the institution of marriage… Ha!!! They must be sleeping and unaware of the heterosexual couples who are doing a damn good job of jacking it up already. People should mind their business and focus on their own personal relationships and marriage because those statistics of 50% of failed marriage don’t include the same sex marriages. Oh, but I forgot, it’s about religious beliefs and those people are sinning right? Yeah, like you don’t sin and won’t continue to do so.

With all of that being said, I wish the principles and commitment of marriage could return to a place where people fought hard to uphold their vows. Where people thought more about the marriage than the wedding and wanted to grow old with their significant other because they cared deeply and made a good partnership. A time when marriage was not a joke and about how much fame it could bring you.