A grown-up revelation

I think I've had a grown-up revelation. About marriage and its purpose.

Now, I've never been necessarily for or against marriage. I suppose I've just never worried about it too much. Or else I thought it might be nice, but didn't really think about why.  But I now have so many friends who are married or getting married or at least in very serious relationships, and I can't help but be a little bit jealous. Not in a scathing way, or a bitter way at all, but in a, now I see what I should hold out for and what it can be way.

Life is such a cantankerous, ever-changing thing. It's always moving, always throwing me for a loop, and never stopping for a break to make sure I'm okay.  I think the purpose of marriage is to find some consistency in this inconsistent world. That one person you can always count on in both good and bad times, to be there with you, and you for him. We are such creatures of habit that we cling to the non-changing when everything starts to flip upside down. When you have that one thing that is consistent, it makes it a lot easier to accept change and adapt to it (at least I think so).

I know marriages end. Things happen (change, or in some cases don't when you expected them to). But that still doesn't mean you can't look for the thing that remains the same. And this is not to say relationships don't change within themselves, but the goal is to change together, keeping the foundation the same, and I can now see how important that can be.

So to all of my wonderfully happy, committed friends: take care to truly appreciate what you have and know how special it is.  You are all examples of what anyone could be lucky enough to have.