Is it necessary for a person to get married and have his or her own family to be happy?

I understand. That what my family feels but not me. I do not mind being the only one not married but they always worry about my future. They think that I will be a miserable person when I get old because there will be no one to look after me.

@annierose and people assumed that ;(

Thanks Jabo! Yes, this is my life and I am the only one responsible for my own happiness. I could not bear the hardships of being mother and a wife. I do not know if I will really get happy having my own family or being in a single status for all of my life. I am not sure what lies ahead for me.

@LdeL0318 It is true! I am always trying to be positive in everything.

Thank you. I agree with you about good timing in life. It happened to me before. I was not searching for a man to love me and whom I will also love back, but he came into my life. I am uncertain about my future. It depends on God's plan for me.

@annierose I suggest you just embrace whatever life will give you.

I think you have you have a satisying life. I guess many people gets jealous with you secretly because of your success. Some people tell me they get jealous that I am single and I can do everything I want without worries since I have no husband or kids to take good care of. Yes, I love my life now. Many of my friends and classmates gets married already -- but not me. And sometimes when I tell them I am still single, they just ask questions like when will I ever plan to get married.

@toniganzon Then after few weeks they will come back with same sets of question.

@annierose You should tell them NEVER!

Thank you Jennifer. When I was young, I dreamt of getting married at the age of 25 and having kids. But everything changes. Nothing is permanent. Now, I do not think of getting married at all nor have children. I do not know if after many years, I will change again my thinking or I will stick to what my hear desires at the moment.

@Cintronwriter I agree, if you do not have a mutual goal a marriage cannot last.

Yes, a mutual goal or love for something is the key to sharing in each others lives.

That is my aim too. I want to live life to its fullest and I really have a deep thirst on other's traditions and cultures. I want to experience them. My boyfriend and I share the same interest of travelling and I am happy with that. But even we have same interest , we do not have any plans to get married.

@annierose Yes, I am a mother of two children now. I guess parents always like to say that. It's true that you might understand some of the parents' concern when you are a parent, but that's not necessary. I also think that as parents, we should respect our children, we should respect their choices as well. I always think I am here to guide my children, and support them to be whom they want to be. We shouldn't force our children to follow our ways or our path, but encourage them to walk their own path. Well, I understand it's not easy for a parent to see the child falling down or doing something they might be worrying, it's something parents need to learn as well. Frankly speaking, I really enjoy being a mother, though there are a lot of challenges, I have really learned a lot. Hope your parents will be happy with what you have chosen in your life.

@kaka135 What if your child want to venture a very dangerous kind of job like being a soldier, police or media man, would you allow him? My brother wants to be a soldier while my sister wants to work as a news caster but mom did not allow it. She said she worries very much on those kind of jobs so my brother and sister did not able to meet what they aspire to be.

Are you a parent already? My parents always tell us that we will only understand them if we are already parents ourselves too. Since I do not have a plan of getting married, I wonder if I will understand them at all. I think being a parent is a tough responsibility.

I remember a video I saw in facebook. It was all about things that we should try before getting on our 30's. Well, I am already on my 30's. You are still young and there are so many beautiful things you can still do while you are not yet married. I think being married will someone will somehow lessen your freedom to do everything that you want.

@zaga_cleuth Yes, thanks for that. I have my boyfriend but we do not have any plans to get married. We just enjoy this bf/gf relationship.

@annierose at some point yes. But don't close your door in finding that special someone who could be your partner in doing the things you love to do.

How do you react whenever they pressure you to get married? It is quite difficult when they do it almost all the time.

@arthurchappell I understand. Sometimes I feel hurt too when one of my colleagues told me maybe my bf really does not love me because I am still not getting married. I do not know why they cannot understand that I am not really into marriage, yet.

@annierose I just ignore it though I was hurt when I heard my parents thought I was gay - the one girl I brought home felt interrogated by the family who were appalling to her - never brought girls home to meet them since

Yes, that is what I want too. It is really my dream to live in abroad. That is another reason, I did not pay attention to any Filipino suitors I had in the past. I worry that if I fall in love with any of them and then get married, I won't be able to follow my dreams.

@rakski Thank you very much! I trust God and always think that something good is always about to happen. Although I may have already have this vision of spending half of my life overseas being single, I still accept the truth that it will still be God's plan that will happen with me. And whatever it is, for sure it is the best.

@annierose very true. I always dreamed of that since I was a kid. But my sister is really the dreamer, I am the day dreamer. lol. She try to catch her dream and I was left to tend to our family and now I am married. Though I wish I had the opportunity, I accepted that God has other plans for me. Go and catch your dream!!!

Maybe the marriage pressure is cultural?

@Cintronwriter yes it is. I don't know about other countries, but yes in India it's like you are born to just get married someday and have your family. And I am totally against this thinking. I really get miffed when my parents and relatives talk about my marriage plans and all

@hydraa oh man, I'm sorry to hear that. Are pre-arranged marriages also something you have to deal with? I can't imagine applying pressure to my daughter to get married. I'm the opposite. Take your time. Wait it out. Enjoy what life has to offer, it's a big world so explore it.

That is what I have been seeing too especially if their sons or daughters are very busy already on their own family. I think, being married and having kids does not mean that I will not be alone when I get old. I have seen many old people being neglected. So many old people around, homeless.

@AkoPinay Do you also plan to be single or you are already married?

@annierose that's true. They are married and have many children

I am not yet toally 100% independent. My dad treated me like a baby when he was still alive. Whenever I will approach him so I can also learn how to cook, he will always push me away and just tell me to play with other kids. I think that becomes the reason I grew up with no interest in cooking at all. I have been spending my entire time with my job alone and no longer have much time to do household chores. I guess, that is another reason they want me to be with someone who can take care of me but I know I can take good care of myself. And I know if I am already alone, I will learn those different household chores by myself. No need to depend on someone to do it for me.

I agree with you. I do not know about marrying part. I am not sure if my boyfriend and I will get married in the future. Although we share the same passion on travelling, building a family is still up in the air.

It is not only my family but also my colleagues and friends who are trying to push me to get married. It was funny,because just this afternoon, a collegue told me about her friend who is not yet married. She told me her conversation with her friend that her friend is no longer getting any younger. So, it was like she also want to say same thing to me in an indirect way.

I think that they somehow understand me. It is just they cannot accept that I will be alone in my life with no husband and kids.

@annierose I suppose you aren't at that age where you are supposedly be married . The right man will come , just pray for it . Meanwhile don't be bothered by their teasing .

Yes, I agree. I am the one responsible on my own life. I know they just care for me and they just worry that if I have no family of my own, I will.be miserable. I do not know how to answer them yet about it.

It seems your partner does not want children, either? It is good that you share the same beliefs. I think that majority of men and women want to have their lifetime partner and have kids. When I told my brother that I have no plans of getting married nor having kids,he thought I am impossible.

@annierose Yeah my fiance doesn't want to have kids either.

Thanks for sharing your opinion. I agree about that. I will not close my heart of getting married provided that my partner will share same beliefs and ideas with me.

That is what I think so. I have realized that nurturing a child is not an easy task to do. I also feel that giving birth to a child might make die young as it is very painful.