So some random posted the following on TA:
Theory: 66% of people in relationships are actually single
- 1/3 are in relationships of convenience (i.e. not to be bored,lonely etc.)
- 1/3 are in relationships that have ended mentally but that fact hasn’t made it to reality yet. In my experience it takes most people months/years to breakup
- 1/3 are legitimate relationships.
Interesting theory, and though I’m not too sure about the numbers I do agree with the suggestions. This theory inevitably raises questions about finding the right partner in life.
Personally, I’ve decided that the whole concept of “the one” is a crock. Unless people go through life without having any interaction with any other soul except for one other, I disagree with the literary, historical, romantic and social notion of “the perfect partner”.
Believing in that concept only limits people from enjoying whatever relationships they may find themselves in because in the back of their mind there will always be a potential that somebody else, not the person that they’re with, is “the one”. It’s particularly convenient when the relationship is strained or one party does not invest as much as the other into making it work.
Unfortunately nature does not play fair. Some people will go through life with many partners, but others will be lucky if they only ever do find one. So I guess for the latter the notion is more applicable.
This all plays out in the jungle that is the dating game. I’ve had this discussion many times with my male friends and it always ends up with somebody mentioning something about lack of status, finance, playboy mansion, souped up automobile, superman physique and whatever else that we lack but what many women seem to be attracted to. Now before anybody goes casting judgements about us being “losers”, we’re your typical average guys with considerable success in our careers, graduated from tertiary education, and we have had relationships in the past.
Before this starts turning into a commentary about my own lack of success in finding “the one” I would like to note that I had/have made a conscious decision to not pursue anything on the relationship in order to focus on obtaining financial freedom. Therein lies the rub ie. if I actually had a partner than getting the whole investment thing off the ground could be considerably easier. Mortgages are easier to pay off with two incomes. However, though that is one positive there are also other things to consider before leaping into a relationship. I’m not referring to a fear of commitment. Just the emotion, finance and time required to make any decent attempt at a successful relationship - and those are the things that I need to apply to my investing goals.
Not sure how I ended up on this tangent but returning to the topic - I’m certainly not waiting for “the one”.
