Marriage Seems Scary and Risky. What If It’s Not for Me?
Dear Noncommittal,
It is hard to be fully invested in a relationship if you’re already thinking about the messy ending. You are right about the statistics—many marriages do end. There are no guarantees. I do know that very few people go into a marriage with the intention of getting a divorce. Marriage is a leap of faith. It seems pretty clear that you are not ready to make that leap right now—and that’s OK. It’s good to know that is where you are.
What I think is interesting is that you say that you are fine with long-term commitments or even one life-long commitment. I’d be curious to know more about why that feels safer to you than marriage. The “split” rates for relationships are higher than for marriages. There are even fewer guarantees in “nonbinding” (for lack of a better term) relationships. The risks of not being able to trust, of being hurt, of friends taking sides are just as high. If you were to have children with a lifelong partner outside of marriage, custody issues would still be present; they would just look slightly different. You’d still have to figure out dividing up shared stuff (possibly even your home). There are even fewer guarantees in this kind of relationship, yet something about not being legally bound to another person seems less risky to you.
I wonder if the issue may not actually be the act of marriage, but the level of trust required to risk committing yourself fully to another person. It is not unusual for children of divorce to struggle with that trust. They experienced firsthand how marriages can end. It can profoundly impact their feelings of safety and security and limit their willingness to trust in others. You say that, right now, it feels like you have to choose between a very scary “risk-it-all” approach or be doomed to a life alone. There is definitely a middle ground which can allow you meaningful relationships without such high levels of fear. I strongly encourage you to explore these feelings with a therapist in your area.
Best of luck,
Erika
Erika Myers
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ronnie
August 2nd, 2013 at 8:40 PMscared of marriage the person here asking the question may be.but its still way better than not knowing your feelings,rushing into a marriage and ending it in quick time.have known more than one person who did such a thing.
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chloe
August 3rd, 2013 at 4:18 AMIt is fine if you don’t necessarily think that marriage ios for you, but don’t throw away a good relationship just because you feel like it is inevitable that it has to end in marriage because that is not always true. There are plenty of couples who live their entire lives together and who don’t feel like it has to be dictated by a piece of paper or some legality from the state. But just remember that this could be a deal breaker for some people so if there are some other issues underneath all of this that need to be resolved then I would encourage you to do that before just swearing off marriage forever, because if you find the right person to take that proverbial plunge with then I think that you could could find yourself quite happy.
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Ned
August 4th, 2013 at 12:43 AMI was scared of commitment too.Until I met the right woman.It was not instantaneous but with time I did realize that wanting to be together forever what was I wanted with her.Your fear could go away with the right person too,just hang in there.
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Mandy R
August 4th, 2013 at 10:14 PMAt least u r not jumping into marriage without being sure,thats a good thing.much better than taking the plunge while still unsure.kudos to that.
But u do need to c why u r scared of marriage but not long term relationship.its kinda weird to hear that.
Maybe u should look back at the relationships u have been in for the answer.all the very best.
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evelyn
August 6th, 2013 at 3:02 PMSo what if getting married isn’t for you? The trick now is just to find someone else who feels the same way that you do! There is no law that says you have to get married to be happy with someone. There are lots and lots of people who have never married and are just as happy as (and they may say happier than) others who have taken the plunge. Yes for some people it is a commitment to God and to their famiies, but for others it is honestly just a legality, a piece of paper. And if this is you, then that is not the reasons to get married at all. If you don’t feel the need to do it, and I mean really feel the need to take this step, then why would you do it? live together, have a family, do whatever, and be happy in the way that makes you and your partner happy together, not the way that you think that others say you “should” do things.
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Regina M
August 7th, 2013 at 4:53 PMMariage obviously isn’t for a whole lot of people, otherwise the divorce rate wouldn’t be as high as it is today. I honestly wish that there were more people like you who knew more about who they are and what might work best for them.
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Evan
August 30th, 2015 at 11:38 AMErika,
Noncommittal may be primarily concerned with the financial consequences of divorce. He may find the possibility of alimony (particularly long-term or lifetime alimony) as unacceptable. Long-term alimony can seem particularly unjust to many people since the party receiving the alimony payments could easily be the one that was at fault for the marriage breakdown (courts typically don’t consider fault when determining divorce settlements). Also, Noncommittal could be concerned with asset distributions after divorce. Many divorce judges have very wide latitude when determining the distribution of assets (and fault is not typically considered either). It’s not uncommon for one party to get 60% or more of the assets. Furthermore, even a perfect 50/50 distribution may be considered unjust to many people since one party may have worked much harder during the marriage than the other party. If your spouse is lazy and unemployed and you do all of the work, then a 50/50 distribution at divorce is very unjust! These problems can be avoided with cohabitation since you can keep the finances separate and any shared resources can have explicit contracts where each party must contribute a certain amount; and both parties know precisely what will happen at separation (because it’s in the contract). Also, the act of getting a divorce itself can be expensive. I read somewhere that the average cost of divorce is $4,000. And if it goes to court, $20,000. The average duration of divorce is 11 months. And the cost of divorce doesn’t even include the lost money that was spent on the wedding, the engagement rings, etc.Lastly, I want to briefly mention a non-financial factor that is important for a lot of people. It’s the shame factor! All of your friends and relatives came to your wedding to watch you and your new spouse swear lifelong union to each other. These people took time out of the lives to come to your wedding. They also paid for plane tickets, hotels, gifts, etc. After divorce, you are essentially telling these people that they wasted their time and money. You are also telling them (and future partners and friends) that you are not trustworthy when it comes to making important promises.
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Matt
November 11th, 2015 at 1:03 AMMy girlfriend wants the same thing aswell, I want to live together forever. But I feel like marriage will just unleash the beast, and that is something I DO NOT WANT. Living without marriage makes it so its always about maintaining the relationship, and knowing that either person can opt out immediately if things get ugly or there is issues with the relationship. I have heard too many stories about both men and women turning into absolute monsters the moment a ring was put on it. Sorry but I don’t want to exercise the beast. Thank you very much.
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The Very Truth
November 29th, 2016 at 12:46 PMVery risky getting married these days. Stay Single and stay Safe.
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Travis
August 8th, 2020 at 4:35 AMI think most commenters missed his main point and kind of talked around the issue of why he is scared to get married! He said clearly he is afraid of the divorce laws and the quick and easy way he would have his life financially ruined if his partner which in 85% of the time the women divorces him! I know its a touchy subject so no one wants to discuss it directly but i know for sure 99% of men who know the risks of marriage deep down feel exactly like he does including myself. It is not about fear of commitment, personal issues or any of that stuff it is simple logic, risk assessment and common sense! Most women only really want to marry these days because the risk assessment for them is still very low so its less scary i can understand that. But mark my words every man with common sense especially in america is not marrying because of the divorce laws and that is the ONLY reason i am sure of it!!! If you make it hard or punish the person seeking divorce, make child custody even and get rid of things like alimony and auto child support then the institutional side of marriage will have more value to men and women!
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Guest
December 7th, 2020 at 12:28 PMJust too many women these days with their very outrageous unrealistic high expectations and standards unfortunately. And not marriage material at all either.
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Sarah
January 14th, 2021 at 2:23 AMWhy are you all enabling this guy ruining women. If you don’t want to get married, don’t get in relationships! It seems to me that the women shouldn’t trust you. You seem to be very Selfish. You are putting no value on what women bring to the table and seem to be enjoying the honeymoon stage of relationships were you guys don’t seem to know each other well. When you can love everything about a person and it fades and the things you once love seem to annoy each other. Its the melding of two worlds but after that people find strength with each other, comfort, a knowledge of really knowing someone and loving them true good and bad, an ultimate best friend. You learn each others flaws but each others joys and each others happiness, you become one. How is life without that person is like losing your arm. You just think you can replace it every time the relationship gets real. You don’t seem to lead in these relationships with the fact that you are non committal, I bet you enjoy marriage benefits without the marriage. Yes there’s a lot not talked about when it comes to marriage like how to be there for each other put them before yourself once and a while. This smooth talker that would get married when he sees hes own value fade. Women often do too much and bring in too much with men. They cook clean work and have to look like a natural model all the time and the personality has to be fitting. These guys do not appreciate it and as soon as a ball falls from the air that you are juggling a person is like I’m out you don’t know how to cook, or clean to the degree that I’m accustomed with. What you lost your job and have to spend my money now, you don’t look that same with your nails not done, Wait was that because you didn’t want to ask me for the money. you should be able to do everything Superwomen and why do they need to get marriage. lets face it marriage is for men to lock a women down. Do the world a favor get use to being on your own if you can’t think of this person as a part of you. Choose wisely and women stop sleeping with guys like this. if your in a relationship and you want kids and a married do read the writing on the wall and date many guys without sleeping with them. you should never be a girlfriend. Moms stop cooking and helping out your sons when they are in a relationships and of age if you don’t like how they are treating women and you want them to grow up.
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Guest
January 21st, 2022 at 7:07 AMMost marriages did work out in the old days, just the way it worked out for our family members. Most women were very old fashioned and real ladies in those days as well, and it wasn’t all about looks and money back then either. Both men and women were struggling just to make ends meat since they didn’t have much in those days either. Today the great majority of women are very high maintenance, independent, and don’t care to have a man in their life anyway, very selfish, greedy, spoiled, picky, and very money hungry more than ever today as well. Not to mention that a lot of women nowadays unfortunately are real gold diggers too. A very big change in the women today from the old days which is why marriage is very risky for many of us single men now as well.
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Fact Is
August 10th, 2022 at 12:46 PMFact is, you nailed it very well.
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