36 and Single

That probably sounds sad, doesn’t it.  36 years old, and never been married.  (I’m only 4 years away from 40, dang it!)  I have known a lot of people over the years that struggle with not being married past the time when most of their friends have tied the knot.  I guess I’m just not one of those people, because being single is something that has never been hard for me.

When I have heard people saying things like “I want to get married so bad” when they aren’t even dating anyone, I just haven’t ever been able to relate.  I haven’t ever felt that way.  When I’ve had relationships that were going well and marriage might have been a possibility, sure, yeah, marriage was something that I wanted.  But I’ve never had a strong craving for it when I’m outside of a relationship. 

And to be 36 and single?  Shouldn’t that really bother me?  Maybe it should, I don’t know.  But when it boils right down to it, I don’t really feel like much is missing in my life.  It is very fulfilling.  I love my work, I love my hobbies, I love my surroundings.  I have a great family, and great friends.  I have opportunities to learn and grow all of the time.  I get to do the things that I enjoy.  And I don’t feel a lack of love or companionship.  There isn’t a lot about my life that would change if I could just snap my fingers and have everything made perfect. 

Not that I wouldn’t like to find a woman that I could love, and would love me in return, but that just doesn’t seem to be in the cards right now.  Heck, I haven’t even met someone I could ask out for several years now.  But that is pretty much outside of my control, so it doesn’t keep me up at night.  I know that marriage is a wonderful thing when you find the right person.  But two people it does take, so I don’t worry about the half that is outside of my control.  And I make the best of every day that I have available to me.  And that makes me happy.

So even though I’m not married, I have a good life.  No, scratch that, I have a great life.  Sure, it could be better with someone to share it, but it sure isn't half bad now.