Arranged Marriages Outdated no more Arranged Marriages – Good
Too many folks now days believe all that drivel on TV and in movies about the infamous "love at first sight". It is possible but not as likely as a random event that Hollywood would like you to believe. When I was younger, there was a popular movie called "Love Story" that depicted a blossoming love between a guy who came from a poor family and a girl who came from a rich one. The tragedy was that the girl died of a terminal illness before they could get married. The implication is that their love would endure forever. Baloney.
What would've happened is they would get a divorce after a few years. The problem is that the guy would never be able to earn enough money to provide a life for his wife that she was accustomed to. On the other hand, the wife would go nuts because she'd have to do things she's never done before like wash laundry or cook meals. The lack of similar upbringing would doom this relationship. Am I wrong? Just think about folks you've known that got divorced and how much the couple had in common with regards to goals and lifestyles.
Arranged marriages will take that into account. I personally feel the success of my marriage with my wife is that both of us came from similar backgrounds. Plus we both come from large families, I have five siblings and she has four. She is the oldest daughter, 2nd oldest child and I'm the oldest son, 2nd oldest child. It is eerie at times how well we know each other's thoughts and what we would do. Is this an accident or coincidence? After 25 years of living like this, I really doubt it's a coincidence and feel it's due to having similar views on life.
If this is still unbelievable, why are sites like Match.com or Eharmony.com, doing so well? Folks are finding by answering surveys as honestly as possible, these groups will match them up with likely mates in their area. Their screening process asks detailed questions on religion, preferences in appearances, likes, dislikes and checks to see if any other respondents have similar or the same responses. Many social networking sites tout a high success rate and frequently point to the number of participants who get married.
Hmmh, an impartial service that takes responses and matches couples based on response... I don't know about other folks but that sure as heck sounds like an arranged marriage to me. In a few short months, my youngest sister will marry a person she met on Match.com last fall. My future brother-in-law seems to be a pretty nice guy and I've never seen my sister happier. It's obvious he worships the ground she walks on and as her older brother, I couldn't ask for more. I expect their marriage will be a long and happy one.
Why? Because romance was not the prime motivation for their attraction. There's a fine line between being in love and being in lust and many folks can't differentiate between the two. That's why Hollywood marriages are a joke and many of the beautiful people would be better off just living together than going through the hassle of getting married. Divorce courts are messy as well as pre-nuptials agreements. What gets even more bizarre is some of these couples live together, have several kids then get married. Then they get divorced.
So don't be quick to dismiss arranged marriages as being outdated. Love is what will attract you to your mate but having similar views of life is what will keep you together.
