Why Love and Marriage Cannot Exist Without Each Other

It's said that love and marriage go together like a horse and carriage. These days there may need to be a better phrase, since less and less people can even remember horse-drawn carriages, but it does make for a nice rhyme! Is it true that love and marriage cannot exist without one another, and why is that?

Many people try to think of marriage in a logical way. It's a convenient arrangement where two people can split expenses and share responsibilities, and have someone to take care of them when they need it. But in reality, you can have a roommate with which to share expenses and hire someone to take care of you when you're sick. Love and marriage belong together because marriage is a legal contract, but not just a business agreement. It is based on emotions of love, respect, and attraction. While over the years your love may seem as if it varies a bit - that strong physical attraction will fade, you will become more comfortable with each other and less excited every time that person is around - it will still be very strong as your dedication to each other continues. While love and marriage may at times seem as if they are at odds, in reality it's that love that keeps two people together for the long haul. Trying to separate that love and marriage is a big reason as to why some marriages fade - couples try to force themselves to stay together for the sake of the children or try to reason with themselves that an abusive partner isn't really that bad, and so on. Couples no longer act with love, and marriage is then compromised.

  When two people love each other, do they necessarily need to get married? It's interesting how many generations felt that living together was just as good as being legally married and there are some couples who have been able to make this work for many years, but there are some reasons to consider why love and marriage are intertwined. Far too many couples that simply live together still have the idea that if it doesn't work out, they can just easily get up and leave. Obviously you can get out of a marriage also, but by leaving that door open for them by not getting married, couples seem to be betraying a lack of commitment to one another. It's also true that their lives may not be as intertwined as they would think. Many often look at the arrangement as being "my things" and "their things" and "my friends" and "their friend," whereas married couples usually see most things as "ours" and fewer things as "mine" or "yours." So for most, love and marriage are connected because this is the best way to show their true commitment to each other and to really make sure that their lives are separate in some ways but joined in the most important of ways.