Some people are not wired for marriage. They’d be a lot happier single. Yet they don’t listen. They get married and then spend years living in misery. Because not everyone is meant to get married.
According to “Changing Attitudes Towards Marriage and Single Life,” by A. Thornton and D.
Freedman (1982), the single lifestyle is now considered a legitimate option, and most Americans don’t consider the married life better than being single.
Here are the 7 Types of People Who are Happier Single:
Those who believe it’s just a piece of paper
Many people don’t believe in the institution of marriage. To them, it’s just a piece of paper. They have no desire for a lavish wedding ceremony. Yet they will happily cohabitate with their partner as long as their union isn’t given an official name.
They’ll stay with their partner for years, even a lifetime. It’s reassuring to them to know there’s always a way out, and they like that escape clause. In many instances, they are happy enough to stay with their partner forever.
Look at Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell. They’re both successful actors who’ve been together for years. And they never officially wed.
Goldie said, “If I’d been married, I’d be long divorced by now.”
Women or men who don’t want to be “the wife”
For many years, women stayed out of the workforce. They became full-time homemakers and worked for free. Their spouse had hot meals, a clean house, and slippers brought to them when they arrived home.
These women were self-sacrificial partners with no career dreams of their own. They put their husband’s comfort first. There was even a list published for women in the “Good Wife’s Guide” from Housekeeping Monthly in 1955 that told women how to treat their men.
In present times most people work in paid jobs and take their careers seriously. They may not want to wed for the following reasons:
- Their partner has a more important job. They don’t want to be stuck laying their own career on the sacrificial altar to put their spouse’s career first.
- They don’t want to be “the wife” at home preparing meals, cleaning, and taking care of children all day, so their partner can focus on their job.
So they choose a life of being single, where they don’t have to sacrifice their own dreams for someone else.
Adventurers and world travelers
It’s hard to be a world traveler and go on adventures when you have a partner and/or children at home.
Your spouse may be a homebody who never wants to go anywhere and doesn’t want you to go either.
And if you have children, it’s even more difficult to get away — with conflicts with school and their activities. And anyone who has ever traveled with a baby or toddler knows how many items you have to pack just to bring them. It’s exhausting.
Some people have attempted it. They’ll take their families on adventures. It takes highly organized, flexible, and committed people to manage a family that travels a lot.
Yet let’s face it. It’s not easy. You can’t just jump and take off on a jet to Paris at a moment’s notice when you have a family.
Yet when you’re single, you can go wherever you want, whenever you want. And some people don’t want to give up that footloose and fancy-free life and settle down. They’ll take being single any day.
People who loathe babies and children
Some people don’t like children at all. Children annoy them. They don’t think your baby is cute. And they have no desire to have one of their own.
Yet, many people marry just to have children. So if someone doesn’t like children and never wants to have them, in their minds there’s no logical reason to get married.
After all, you can live with someone long-term without the piece of paper. And you can raise a child alone, although the ideal is for children to have both parents raising them together.
Some people love being the fun Aunt or Uncle but not having the responsibility of raising their own children. They may choose not to marry because of this, and enjoy their single life. I have a single friend whose nieces and nephews adore her like she is their parent. Yet she can always send them home.
People who love being free to do what they want
Marriage takes communication, and selflessness, and living in harmony with another person. You both learn to compromise for the greater good.
If someone is so independent and stuck in their ways, they won’t work well with a partner. These are the people that need freedom like it’s oxygen, and despise having someone tell them what to do.
And if they honestly believe that a partner will stop them from living their best life, they’ll gravitate towards the single life.
People who don’t want to be tied down to one person
Some people don’t believe in monogamy. They like dating different people. They don’t want to be tied down to one person.
They prefer to have a constant flow of new partners in their life.
Unless a couple agrees on having an open relationship, a union with cheating will bring a lot of misery for at least one of them.
These people should remain single for the sake of the people they get involved with.
Their career means everything to them
Some people love their careers so much they can’t focus on anything else. When they have to relocate because of a job, the last thing they want is a partner demanding they turn it down.
If their career takes priority over their relationship, it will be difficult to sustain it. Unless they have a self-sacrificing “wife,” they’re never going to be happy with someone who’s always holding them back. They’ll grow to resent their partner.
Single doesn’t have to equal loneliness
You can be happy remaining single. No one should be forced to settle for a lifestyle they don’t want.
Contrary to popular belief, many single people aren’t lonely. Single people live fulfilling lives. They can network with people through Meetup.com or local organizations and church groups.
People can choose the life they want, and experience the peace of living it solo. For these people, single life can be a fulfilling destination.
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This post was previously published on medium.com.
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