Being in a relationship isn’t always like they show in movies. Things aren’t perfect and finding “the one” isn’t a piece of cake. Naturally, there can be a pressure to get married, both internal and external – even if you don’t find that “perfect partner”. For some people, a conventionally appropriate relationship feels better than the idea of being alone. Basically, different things work for different people.
And Redditors who married their “better than nothing” option share how it worked for them.
1. “I feel like we may both have settled because we had a child together, but 22 years in, and he’s a better partner than I could have ever dreamed of.”
2. “Will celebrate 49 years in May. Was not easy, but we worked though all the issues.”
3. “Was married for 10 years, got 2 kids out of it and some of the happiest years of my life. We both pretty much settled for each other. Eventually we both concluded that we just weren’t right for each other, and cut it off but I don’t have any regrets about it.”
4. “I think I am the better than nothing spouse. About a month ago I found out. It was devastating. For 17 years, she settled for me despite not truly loving me. Life was hard but we had each other, or so I thought. The moment we talked about how bad things got, she asked for a divorce and I lost my best friend and the sole person who I felt I trusted enough to talk to. “
– Kierik
5. “I found out 5 years into my marriage that I was his “better than nothing” option. I filed for divorce 2 weeks later. It was one of MANY issues in the marriage, but finding out he was telling people that he only married me because he feared getting older alone, while he was telling me I was “the one” fucking STUNG.”
6. “The thing is, we grew together and I have a very successful and happy marriage despite her not initially knocking my socks off. I think I fit your comment’s intent, but I’m not sure because at no point in our relationship was it so bad that I didn’t want to be in the relationship anymore.”
– MrPopo72
7. “My first marriage was my “better than nothing” marriage because I had extremely low self-esteem and I was afraid I would end up alone otherwise. We got divorced a year and half later. Now, I’m married to the man of my dreams, it just took me a while to find him. Spoiler alert: don’t settle.”
8. “Actually good. We laugh on a daily basis, we have a child whom we both love dearly. We always vacation in Mexico where both our families are from, which is a plus. Our families get along amazing. We still have fire in our marriage, which is good.”
9. “She is amazing! Now that we are no longer married – my best friend actually just wanted to be my best friend. We’ve got an amazing child. He rocks. But we both are not attracted to each other. Our son ties us together and it is fantastic.”
– thillcmu
10. “It imploded 7 years ago and in the process, sucked my life down into a pit of despair from which I’ve only really clawed my way out of in the past year or so.”
Marriage isn’t easy, but in the end it’s all about what one wants.