Things You Must Do Before You Get Married

I once agreed with somebody that it should be harder to get married and easier to get divorced. Funny, I was 17 and my wedding was months away when I agreed. It seems over the years, I have gone through many different opinions on marriage. I used to believe that if you can live with someone for 5 years and still get along, you have no choice but to marry that person. (One of my better ideas I must say.)

Then again, I also almost married somebody I could not even stand to be around, for reasons I can not say. (Seriously, I don't even understand!) I also discussed marrying a certain ex, with whom I truly did see a successful future (happy at least. We were both too burned out to ever succeed at anything else.) and our motive for marriage was to take advantage of the tax benefits.

Marriage should be joked about and taken less seriously. 'I do' may be the longest sentence in the English language (get it?) but it shouldn't be considered 'The End'. It is always 'The Beginning'. At the same time, marriage should be taken more seriously than it has been these last few decades. If it doesn't work out, you can still leave. Now your opinions on how solid your marriage vows are should be the first thing that you need to decide on your own, and then talk about with your significant other if marriage has been brought up.

Aside from your views on signing a pre-nup, you need to make clear your views on what marriage means to you. (HInt: If you still haven't formed your own opinion so you borrow your partner's... you're far from ready to get married!) When I did marry, I made it very clear that marriage means forever to me. I take those vows very seriously.