Why is it that we are conditioned to believe that we need to live our lives as well as we can so that we can reach the goal of one day settling down with another person.
The words ‘settling down’ imply that one must have been pretty wild to have something to settle down from and I don’t honestly think that anyone really is. It also implies that once the person to ‘settle down with’ has been found that is then it- feet up, slippers on…there will be no more worries or need to strive or do anything any more.
I have not lived a particularly wild life, naturally I would love to find someone to live my life with but the idea of ‘settling down’ terrifies me. I don’t think that life suddenly stops when you have someone else in it, if anything it becomes far more complicated and then add children into the equation and that’s a whole different ball game. If anything the single part of our lives is the ‘settling down’ bit- once you have someone else in it the world opens up- two brains to come up with adventures to be had and people to share such adventures with. When you have children it is then our responsibility as parents to take them confidently out into the world- showing them some of the marvels that the world has to offer and encouraging them to have the confidence to fly off themselves, eventually. I think, therefore, that blossoming or launching out are better adjectives to use in such a situation. You only get one shot at this life and so, regardless of whether you’re single or with someone, I think that one should never feel inclined to settle but rather be always striving; striving to find your place in the world, striving to make the world a better place and always striving to be happy.
