Let me say something that might upset a few people… Marriage IS an achievement. Not because getting married automatically means you’ve “made it,” but because building a healthy, lasting marriage with another human being is an achievement in itself. I keep hearing people say, “I don’t want marriage because look at what people are going through on social media.” But since when did someone else’s failed experience become a prophecy for your own life? That would be like saying, “I’m never buying a car because someone bought a car and got into an accident.” It simply doesn’t work like that. You saw someone’s marriage fail, so now you’ve decided marriage itself is the problem? You saw a couple fighting online, so now you believe love isn’t real? Social media shows you moments; it doesn’t show you the entire marriage. Some of the happiest marriages you will ever see are not online. They’re two people sitting at home, laughing over dinner, raising their children, solving problems privately, growing together and choosing each other over and over again. And yes, marriage can be hard. It requires maturity, sacrifice, patience, communication and intentionality, but so does almost everything worth having. Don’t let somebody else’s poor choice of partner make you afraid of partnership. Choose wisely. Heal before you marry. Know yourself, know what you want, and pay attention to character, not just chemistry. Marriage isn’t the problem. Sometimes who we choose, how we enter it, and how we treat each other is the problem. So if you genuinely don’t want marriage, that’s your choice and nobody should pressure you. But if you secretly desire marriage and you’re only saying “marriage is not an achievement” because you’ve been discouraged by what you’ve seen online, please don’t let somebody else’s story cancel a chapter you haven’t even lived yet. Your marriage will be your own story. - @stellabenn20