ARE YOU PREPARED TO PLAY WIFE OR HUSBAND ROLE?
Being a wife or husband is very different from being a boyfriend or girlfriend. Being a spouse comes with new responsibilities, challenges and a shared life. Are you ready to make adjustments to your lifestyle to accommodate your partner? Are you willing to make the necessary compromises to be a ‘we’ instead of a ‘me’? You need to be prepared to embrace this change of status. Also discuss with your partner how you will deal with children, discipline, sex, money, division of labour, religion, careers, retirement, and in laws, among other important issues in marriage.
ARE YOU READY FOR THE FINANCIAL RESPONSIBILITY BROUGHT ON BY MARRIAGE?
Unlike dating, there are more financial demands in marriage. It’s no longer just covering the dinner bill or paying for your movie ticket and transport home. You also need to think further than the wedding, which is only for a day. Marriage is for a lifetime. Your spending habits and your partner’s will have to change to accommodate your life as a couple, children and other expenses that may arise along the way.
WHAT WILL MARRIAGE COST YOU?
Will you be investing more than you can afford to lose by getting married?
Will you have to give up your friends, career, or even family? If this is the case, the cost of your marriage is too high. If by any chance the marriage falls apart, you may be left both socially and emotionally bankrupt. Your emotional health and wellbeing is of great significance.
CAN YOU STAY COMMITTED AND FAITHFUL?
Do you often think about what it would be like to be with someone different? If you still get the feeling that you can do better and that there is someone out there who is better suited for you than your partner, then you are not ready for marriage. By the time you make the decision to get married to your partner, you need to ensure that you have all these curiosities about other people out of your system. You need to be confident that your partner is indeed the best for you and that you can commit and stay faithful to him or her.
There are many other questions that you may need to ask yourself before getting married in addition to these basic ones. It’s also necessary that you do a lot of talking with your partner and discuss all your hopes, dreams and expectations for marriage in addition to situations that could arise in marriage and how you would handle them. You can find various helpful resources from books or online that can guide these discussions and help you ask each other relevant questions on the topic. It is of utmost importance that you’re both well prepared and informed before deciding to tie the knot.
October2012
