A. You don't know what you are doing.
B. You are too young.
C. It won't last, you'll be divorced in 5-10 years. (And site statistics...)
D. You are going to grow apart.
Heck, they'll even ask you if you are pregnant and that's why you are getting married. They will even go so far as to tell you things like "No offense, I just don't want my son/daughter to get hurt" in your wedding card.
They'll insist that you are wasting your youth and that you will one day regret getting married "so young". They say you "need" to live on your own, party, sleep around, travel as a single, have a career... etc., etc.
They are wrong. Not everyone "needs" those things. Some people are ready to share their vacations and daily grind, their joy and heartache with someone else. In fact, some people actually look forward to the next great adventure with the person they love. It isn't less fun, less valuable or less enjoyable. Yes it is more work because you have to consider the needs and feelings of someone else, but you also have the comfort of knowing that the someone else is doing the same for you. Sure, some marriages don't last, and I have *no idea why with that kind of awesome support and encouragement! (*Sarcasm implied.) People will be people and when they *think they know better, they LOVE to make sure everyone knows.
No, marriage is not for everyone. There is a certain level of commitment and selflessness that is absolutely required to make a marriage work. I'm not implying that it is selfish to be single, rather that not everyone is ready to potentially change their life plans for sake of someone else. We don't give up our dreams, they change, they evolve with our relationship. The thing is, marriage is a risk. It is a gamble you take, that the person you are vowing to stand by, through all the great and horrible that life has to offer, will choose to continue to stand by you. We can never enter into such a commitment knowing 100% what the other person will do when faced with various situations. We look at our intended mate, we weigh our love for them, the love they show us, who we are and the possible outcomes and we decide whether or not we think the risk is worth the potential gain. The key is whether or not you are both willing to recommit daily and weather what ever storms life may throw at you. If you are both willing to work and not give up, you can reap the reward at the end of the rainbow. The rainbow that is only visible after the storm. Without the rain you won't find that rainbow and it's beauty and worth would not be as great if it came at not cost.
Our marriage has seen highs and really low lows. We have walked through just about every valley you can imagine, all those wonderful things people spoke over us... Yeah, we had to walk all that out. Thank you, by the way...
If it weren't for all the hard times, all the heartache and all the hard work, we would not know how to appreciate the good times, celebrate the victories and recognize the amazing blessing of unconditional love and the perfectly imperfect gift of each other.
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