"When I look around my circle of friends, I often catch myself neatly sorting and calculating in my head which of my friends are not only in a committed relationship, but already married. Then sometimes I'd love to go hunting too, following the motto: looking for a man to marry!

To my horror, I recently found out that the number of weddings in my circle of friends has increased rapidly over the last three years. I have to be honest: a few years ago I was still able to reassure myself, since quite a few friends were still single or just dating. But as if time had snapped its fingers, the relationship status of almost everyone close to me changed. Well, except mine. I've already been invited to four weddings this year, and at two of them I was maid of honor. I should add that the friends who got married had only met in the last few years. Even my best friend, with whom I had sworn to stay single forever, quietly broke that oath on her last vacation and came back home with her new lover.

Looking for a Man to Marry: Desperation or Personal Choice?

I'm happy for everyone's private love life, honestly! But friends with partners also mean less time for the rest of the friend group. In the end, I'm somehow the one who suffers, the one who gets left with less time. Just recently someone confided in me and suggested I try going to singles parties or even give online dating a try. I should state my goal there openly right away: looking for a man to marry! Following the motto: what everyone is doing must be right. But do I even want that? Of course it's lovely to see love for a partner sealed with marriage. The promise of eternal love and the perks that come with it, like fulfilling the girlhood dream of the white dress, I imagine as incredibly romantic. So I, too, often wallow in a rose-colored dream world and almost feel a little sorry for myself, wondering why everyone else is in a happy relationship with marriage on the horizon. Then I'd love to stick a sign on my forehead and wander through the world with it: looking for a man to marry!Looking for a man to marry

Looking for a Man to Marry! But Do I Really Want That?

But in the end I always come back to the same personal conclusion. Somehow it's boring to be a follower, isn't it? Individuality is missing everywhere in today's world especially. So why throw around the slogan "looking for a man to marry" and date online at random if deep down you don't think it's right? Just because you're not in a relationship yet doesn't mean you'll be single forever. On the contrary: if you're still completely happy with it yourself and can fully enjoy the certain perks of single life, think of having free choice of what's on TV or smaller piles of laundry, then you can call yourself a true and happy single. The helpless-sounding call "looking for a man to marry" can then safely stay away from all newspaper ads and online posts."