I speak the truth . . . marriage can be . . . bleh

I find myself trying to understand how a person can give up all the men in the world, except one, for the rest of their life. I hear things like, "when you know, you know" or "when its right, its right." I think this theory is garbage.

It had nothing to do with timing; lightning didn't strike the first time your eyes met and there were no pointed arrows sticking you in the bum.

I feel like Cary Grant at the beggining of Arsenic and Old Lace, I am a cynic when it comes to marriage. I think women and men give up too much when they get married too young. I hear so many women say they wish they had stayed single longer. Why? Because its great, for an adequate amount of time--when I say adequate, I mean 25 or older. I can think of 17 wrong reasons for why people get married, but they will swear up and down that none of these are the reason when really it is. A lot of these reasons are reasons for why I considered marrying men in the past, but don't worry I didn't.

1) Just like when you've had one too many shots, you've been dumped so many times that your vision has become blurred and your judgment is skewed
*2) You're young and still believe in "happily ever after." You've know him for two weeks and you just know that he's "the one." Preconceived notions like this immediately put blinders on you. You'll justify all the things you hate about him because you knew from the beginning it was "right." I can almost guarantee that in five years you'll be divorced or wishing to be.
**3) He's hot.
4) and you're not. You know that he's BETTER than you, so you convince yourself to marry him.
*5) The physical stuff is GREAT. Holding hands, kissing, lust . . . chains, whips, whatever. All this is great and so when he constantly criticizes you its OK because he knows how to hold you just right.
6) You don't know how to dump him. You can't leave him, he's been hurt so many times before.
********7) He's loaded (This IS a good reason, to me)
8) You're lonely (aka desperate)
9) You're ready to make a baby or at least practice . . .
10) which leads to, you're bored. Get married and there will be sex and someone to listen to your mindless rambling, every night and day.
*11) You're not happy, so you think marriage will fix it. You need to fix your hell before you bring someone else into it.
12) You think its the "righteous thing to do." Getting married early doesn't make you more righteous or "better"
13) You've done everything else, why not try something new?
14) You want to wear a beautiful dress.
*13) You can concentrate on other things besides dating when you're married
*14) Protection, they make you feel safe
15) Marriage makes you happy . . . since when?
*16) LOVE (aka LUST)
*17) Everyone else is doing it . . . (there is a pun in there)