Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Zachary Young
Chapter 8
FHS 2400
Are You Ready?
One of the key qualities that should be prevalent in a marriage is selflessness. You should be
willing to sacrifice things for your significant other for the benefit of the marriage. Some things you may
have to sacrifice include time, money, and friends. I read a story about a man that sacrificed his lunch
money for years in order to get his wife a sowing machine so she wouldnt have to work so hard around
the house. That kind of sacrifice is a key element in a marriage. If you feel willing to sacrifice just about
anything for another person, you could be ready for marriage.
A willingness to commit is another factor you should consider when deciding if youre marriage
ready. You have to be 110% committed to your significant other, and your significant other has to be just
as committed to you. If you cant commit to another person completely, the marriage isnt likely to last
long. Consider if you have been able to follow through on previous commitments to predict whether or not
you can commit to a person for a lifetime in a legally binding marriage.
Your intentions for wanting to get married can also determine whether you are ready for marriage.
If your primary motivation is for personal gain or social status, you probably arent ready for a long term
commitment such as marriage. Children can be a good reason to get married, but it should be secondary
to other more personal reasons that deal with your significant other. Being in love with someone is a great
driving force for choosing to get married as long as you dont get caught up in the moment and realize it
was just infatuation.
Are you the kind of person that others would want to marry? You have to be the kind of person
you want to get married to, because you are likely to marry someone very similar to you. This is called
homogamy (Strong & Cohen, 2014, 280). If you can take a step back and seriously consider the
characteristics you want to have in your future spouse, then take steps to become that kind of person,
then youre heading in the right direction to becoming married.
Some qualities that I have noticed in the past that have strengthened my relationships with others
include willingness to sacrifice, positive engagement, spending time with that person and talking about
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what the future holds for us as individuals. Doing these things with a possible future spouse can help
determine if both of you are ready to be married.
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Works Cited
Strong, B, & Cohen, T. F. (2014). The marriage and family experience: Intimate relationships in a
changing society (12th Ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.