Monday, December 19, 2011

Instant Gratification Generation

Last week my younger brother and I were talking about love and marriage. He's currently waiting for his divorce to be finalized, and has already started another relationship with someone else he feels he would like to marry. Personally I think that he should take the time to get himself centered and grounded before he decides to jump headlong into another committed relationship. During our conversation I told him that I'm not sure if marriage works for our generation. We are the first of the instant gratification generations. We live in very much of a throw-away society. If it's not working for us, we get rid of it and get another one. Although you should never treat people like that, we do. Of course I mean "we" in the metaphorical sense. I, personally, am someone who will stay until the bitter end as long as I have someone to hang in there with me.

Kim Kardashian and Kris Humphries' 72 day marriage is a perfect example of what I'm talking about. They knew each other for all of two seconds and then decided to make the biggest commitment that two people can make to each other. "I barely know anything about you, yet I'll pledge to spend the rest of my life with you until death do us part. Or at least until we have our first major disagreement." My parents have been married for 44 years and I think there are very few couples from my generation that will be able to say the same years from now. I've said it before and I'll say it again, people don't take marriage vows seriously anymore. They're just the words that people have to say in order to get married. They've lost their meaning. Most people think I'm anti-marriage because I don't rhapsodize about getting married someday. I'm not anti-marriage. I'm anti-bullshit. There's a huge difference.

My younger brother is someone that jumps into a situation with both feet, and sees the situation as being colored with sunshine, rainbows, and unicorns. When the clouds, rain, and unicorn shit show up he always tries to find an excuse to bolt. We live a life of duality, and must take the good with the bad because without the bad the good would be nowhere near as good. How boring would it be if things were good all the time? I'm not saying that there should always be tragic or dramatic circumstances in your life, but a little adversity shows us what we're truly made of.

7 comments:

  1. Girlfriend, you sure have that straight. Not speaking of your brother of course as I don't know him, but your thoughts on the throw away society...right on the money.

    xoxox

    Kiss Topaz for me..I wish I could. xoxoxox

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  2. troo an wiv less ekonomik reezons its nawt so attraktiv an institushunz fur sum peeplez

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  3. So true my friend. We dispose of people like we dispose of garbage today. People think that you make a marriage vow once, not true. After your married you have to make that vow again and again over the years. Hey, where are you putting Topaz while your away for the holidays? Love and prrrs from me and Toki.

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  4. Truer words were never spoken. That's one of the reasons there are so many cats dumped in the street. They get older and their peeps tire of them. TW doesn't believe in marriage either and she remembers when you retired at the job you started with. Employers didn't throw away people because they made too much $$ due to seniority.

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  5. It's really sad how some people (like the Kardashians, Britney Spears, etc etc) have cheapened and trivialized things that were once revered in our society. especially marriage. And sadly for every one of us that finds them revolting, there are just as many people who look up to them....which allows those shameless celebs to laugh all the way to the bank.

    Your parents have been together for 44 years? Wow, that's impressive! What's their secret? :)

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  6. @Insomniac #4 I think the secret to my parents' marriage is that they know everything isn't always going to be perfect. You pick your battles and understand that marriage goes way beyond the superficial.

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  7. You hit that right on the head friend. The younger generation is an instant gratification generation. It's sad, but true. Marriage is not a "bed of roses" or "live happily ever after." It takes work, commitment and the ability to stick with it when times are tough.

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