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The Worst Reason To Get Married — Yet It’s All Too Common

Is marriage your own personal self-fulfillment project?

Ariana E.
4 min readMar 19, 2022
Photo by Emma Bauso from Pexels

“He makes me so happy!”

This is one of the most common sentiments shared among brides to be.

Of course, there’s nothing wrong with being happy and excited about your wedding day. You should be with and marry someone who does make you happy.

But is this pursuit of happiness — namely, another person who can make you happy — a good reason to get into a marriage?

Let’s unpack.

The divorce rate in the United States hovers at around 50%.

It’s been this way for decades. Heads or tails — it’s literally a coin toss.

So why are people still hedging their bets when the odds aren’t in their favor?

It’s simple: we want the fairytale.

We want the happiness and bliss we were told marriage brings. From infancy, we’re fed the idea that “your wedding day is the happiest day of your life.”

The happy family — loving husband and doting wife, a couple of kids and maybe a golden retriever — is an image that fits in perfectly with the “American dream.”

Ariana E.

Written by Ariana E.

I said what I said. Counter-cultural opinions on sex, love, and dating.

Responses (5)

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I agree with this 💯. I remember when my ex broke up with me through text, he said it was because "he wasn't happy with this relationship". When I wasn't happy, he wasn't happy and didn't love me enough to stay committed during the tough times. So…

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When I got married, I never expected to be happy all the time. I did however, expect to be happy at least some of the time. I never expected my wife to meet all my needs all the time. I did however, expect that she would try her best to meet a few…

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You have once again hit a home run. As one who has been married for over half a century, I can say you are right. Happiness comes and goes, there more often than absent, but not a signal to dump your spouse if a rough patch occurs. It is about the…

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