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Rekindling Love: Commitment Issues

I have been dating this woman for over three years. Early in the relationship she started talking about marriage , but I wasn't ready. I have/had this great fear of commitment most of my life. We had some ups and downs, and were on and off. Eventually I was given an ultimatum to marry her or else.  I left her, or we broke up because I didn't commit, but as each day passes I realize how much I love her and feel that she is the one for me.  I have asked her to marry me, but she said that she has been hurt too much and won't change her mind.  Then she said we should wait six months or a year so that I can decide if its her or because I felt that I have lost her.  What should I do?

Almen
Answer:
Dear Almen
 
Marriage is a complicated process both in mind and spirit. Training yourself to overcome the fears of commitment can be a tedious and grueling task. It's a destruction of mental walls, a total giving of ones spirit, a renovation of our unconscious mind to create and maintain an eternal union. For whatever reason we fear commitment, it can have a disastrous effect on our relationships. By not proposing until the relationship was getting rocky your partner may have worried about the sincerity of your proposal, to be sure you are requesting her hand in marriage for the right reasons.

When relationships are threatened, emergency protocols are throw into play. As if programmed by instinct, our mind realizes that we may loose our mate and sends us into a delirium of "shape up or ship out" head spaces. Suddenly the intensity of our passions enflame, new levels are achieved and as if on some love sick high we are ready to compromise and change our mindsets. In your case, marriage begins to sound like a better idea. Thus you act on it, flooded by a wave of emotion, new realizations emerge and morph. Due to the nature of your timing on the proposal your sweetheart may have sensed the possible fear in the proposal thus she has requested a bit of time to judge if your actions are being made for the right reasons.

The holy union of two people should not be taken lightly. Evaluate the reasons for which you are suddenly finding yourself more in love. Make sure your newfound proposal wasn't merely induced by fear. Marriage should be intended to last "till death due us part" and should not be rushed into for fear of loosing someone. Work on conquering your fears of commitment by learning to slowly trust people again. A fear of commitment can be derived from a fear of being betrayed. Start off small, and work on committing to things more often. Push through the thoughts that everyone is going to potentially hurt you and work on being more optimistic.

I suggest that you do take your girlfriend up on her offer of waiting 6 months to a year. Marriage is a big commitment and you don't want to rush into it for the wrong reasons. You have your entire life to spend with this woman. If you both truly love each other waiting awhile won't change anything and will only strengthen your relationship. Take this time to think, personal re-evaluation of thoughts and concepts. The more you understand yourself, the easier things will be.

~Best of luck~
 
 -Nate Lovestruck

 
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April 2005 4B

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