re: How much did you 'settle' for marriage?

Move on. Ain't no bitch giving me an ultimatum on marriage. Her saying that tells me that, she isn't in love with you.

Biggly

DAD DON'T DO IT

...three times, never settled but it took a long time to understand my own stupidity. Each wife was 12 to 20 years younger so settling wasn't in the picture... I knew my odds were low going into each. My own foolishness was clearly my worst enemy but understanding "why" I kept choosing the foolishness wasn't as simple as it looks.

This never helped me understand anything but if you haven't already heard this, here's a good analogy to ponder... The real life facts are that failure rate of a first marriage is at best 50%, second 67%, and third 73%. This is simple reality. So, if we KNEW FOR A FACT the failure rate of parachute is 50/50, would anybody even consider skydiving? ...anyone at all? I consider myself well-disciplined and fairly accomplished in all other endeavors and I've had very few failures in life otherwise. What is it that makes us think we're different enough from everyone else that we'll survive these miserable odds when it comes to marriage???

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The bottom line is that getting married means that you are surrendering half of everything that you have

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JFYI, the "community", or what is split in divorce is ONLY what is accumulated from the point it begins. You lose nothing that was yours before you married. All of your property, real estate, financial holdings, savings, etc. you had before remain yours. Just make sure you keep documents like your real estate closures, titles, etc. You can still prove everything with bank records, searching titles, etc. but it makes it easier if you already have records.

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True but there are plenty of people out there a person can potentially fall in love with. some might be better "matches" but the point is that love is built over time with someone you are more or less compatible with. No such things as love at first sight then its all smooth sailing.

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It’s best when the couple was friends first then started dating. Imo a "soulmate" is love + friendship. Marriages go south when they are missing at least one of the two.

I married a country girl and a good one at that. The first 10 years of being married, I gave that woman hell. Some would say she is a saint. After that, I caught hell for 10 years. Then after that, the last 18 years has been great.

We never disrespect each other. Yes, there was bitching, but we never cross that line of no return. That is called love and respect. Never went to bed mad without talking out first. It's always a work in progress, but it gets easy as years go on.

If you don’t want to get married then don’t. Life is all about having to make tough decisions sometimes

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I've always expressed that I'm committed but don't see a reason to get 'married'.

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And what has her stance been on marriage the past 3 years?