ALT-4 Views on Marrying Young
We all have hopes and dreams when we are young. At some stage we realize that we need to leave the security of our home life and experience the world for ourselves. That is to be expected. It is natural. In all forms of life on earth at some stage the off spring is flung out to live life for itself.
As humans we develop our survival skills whilst at school .We form friendships and skills which we rely on in adulthood for survival.Sooner or later we become restless within the confines of our home and yearn to stand on our own two feet. Our first step is to move into a place of our own and become self supporting.
Yet when we do find our independence there exists this restlessness. There is this need to relate to another person who we can share our hopes and dreams. We need a soul mate. And so the search begins. This search may take years .In some cases the soul mate is never found. In some cases the search may not take long at all. In many cases it may take several trial and error situations before our expectations are met.
When we do find our soul mate the urge to marry becomes paramount. We may find our soul mate at sixteen , much later on in life, or not at all. I think that if you are lucky to find your soul mate at sixteen and you are certain that there can be no other person in your life then you should marry . You were destined to find each other and only death should you part.
That is the big problem in marrying young. I see marriage as a lifetime commitment where only death parts you. Marriage should not be considered as some big party with divorce as the escape clause. Many young people who marry young do not have the maturity to consider the full extent of the commitment to each other that marriage demands. Many young people do not realize the work involved that marriage demands. Many young people simply do not look far enough into the future and work as a team to reach those goals.
Marriage is a right and proper institution for the raising of children. Every child should be entitled to have a mother and father in a lasting loving relationship. Today's reality however is far from the ideal marriage. Who suffers? The children of course. Every time. I have to doubt that by marrying young, enough consideration is given to the long term needs of children of that marriage. The world is full of children from broken homes , ugly divorces and meaningless marriages.
The institution of marriage deserves more respect these days than what it is given. Marriage has been cheapened to the point where it has become an event on a list of "must do" things before you die. Marriage has degenerated to nothing more than a large expensive party with a built in escape clause when harsh reality sets it.
If two people truly have found their soul mate and are prepared to fully commit to a lifetime together in sickness or in health, forsaking all others till death do them part then their age has nothing to do with whether they should marry or not. The question is however is are they mature enough to make that decision. Perhaps Perhaps not.In order to remove any doubts I would like to see young couples live together for some time before a decision to marry is made. I would like to see them without children of their own but experience the demands of child rearing through some teaching program. If they still feel strongly about each other then and only then should they consider marriage.
Despite all the foregoing I do believe in love at first sight. Some incredibly lucky people on some enchanted evening find some stranger across a crowded room . Those people could be in the South Pacific or anywhere else on the planet. Those are the people who would marry in an instant and live together until their death. True love. Age would be of no concern.
