Divorce, It's Only Natural

Am I wrong?

Isn't a marriage between two people a commitment for life?

At least, this is what I have always been led to believe. In sickness and in health, 'til death do us part, and all that.

Now I'm not so certain.

Several friends have recently been having second thoughts on their marriage, and I find this strange because of what is happening in my own situation. My other friends are women, and from this limited pool of data I have deduced that women seem to loose interest in their mates later in life.

It seems as though from their stories, and from what I have been reading online recently, women tend to loose interest in their husbands as the kids grow older and they realize that keeping the family together is no longer such a big deal.

As men grow older they seem to, slow down a bit. They find enjoyment in coming home and relaxing. Women, on the other hand, seem to go the opposite direction. I read that women who are divorced are looking for men who want to go camping, hang-gliding, hiking, spelunking, etc... It's like women are trying out for, "Survivor", and men are just trying to stay awake.

I'm not certain where I'm going with this, just that I am observing some strange behaviors in this whole marriage thing, and I find it disturbing.

Why do people continue to get married in the guise that it will last forever, when it seems that the reality is that it is more then likely not going to.

I know many people will argue that they have been happily married forever, and I have no clue what I'm talking about. As I think back on many relationships, more often then not I see people tolerating each other as time goes on. Some are better at it then others, and these marriages are called, successful.

Many couples live on, trying to make it work because they are husband and wife and that's what they are supposed to do. Others ride it out, "for the kids".

I think people get married with the good intentions of making it work forever, but after 10-20 years of dealing with all that life has to toss your direction, people grow apart or just flat out can't stand each other any more.

Is this good or bad? I'm not in the position to say.

No matter what happens, I think the stigma that getting divorced is a horrible thing needs to be reworked.

I'm not condoning flippant relationships, but just maybe mating for life is not a practical life model anymore, or really ever was. It's just that in these times it seems that folks are not as scared to get divorced as they once were.

Religion has played a part in this trend.

People aren't getting divorced more frequently because of our society, they are getting divorced more frequently because religion is loosing its hold on dictating how people should live.

Some will have you believe that this is a horrible thing, and the trend must be reversed at all costs.

I believe it is only natural, and the reason we have had a lot of problems in the past is that people force themselves to remain together because of societal pressures.

What do you think?