Yesterday, I heard through the grapevine that an acquantance of mine is having a problem with her decades-long marriage.  It has gotten so bad that it looks as if a separation is imminent. 

I do not know her or her family very well.  I met them a few times, but I can't say we were close.  I had the impression, though, that she and her husband very devoted to one another and they certainly doted on their kids, so the news came as a sad surprise on Christmas day, of all days.

Growing up, we think that we will find our soulmates, get married, and live happily ever after.  But reality is far different. While I know many people who have married for love, I also know of people who have gotten married for convenience, to please their parents, because they felt it was "the right time" (never mind the right person), because they were afraid of growing old alone, because their biological clocks were ticking, because they needed financial stability.  Some of these marriages last, many don't.  Some survive despite incompatibilities, underscoring the point that love is not a feeling.  And some people I know flit from one short-term relationship to another, searching for the keeper.

Are any of these approaches, these reasons right or wrong?  You be the judge. Speaking purely for myself and for a few friends and relatives who seem to have gotten it right, my own advice is never to compromise. Wait for the right person.  Risk spending your life alone rather than making a mistake of this magnitude.  When you get married, even with the best of matches, there will be compromises enough.  So wait.  And then live happily ever after.